Developer envisions arts district

The goal for the Eighth Street N area: loft apartments, condos and retail spaces - with plenty of parking.

ST. PETERSBURG - Real estate broker George O. Gower wants to move the downtown renaissance farther west and create an urban community along Eighth Street N that would include lofts, condominiums and commercial space.

He plans two mixed-use projects that would include 160 units built in phases over the next three years. Other developers are planning or working on commercial and residential projects in the area. Overall, Gower expects about 250 residences to be built from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street N to Mirror Lake and Central to Fifth avenues N.

Gower is calling it Arts on 8th, capitalizing on the arts, culture and waterfront area of downtown.

"We'll be the fun side of town, younger and more affordable," said Gower, who is 53.

The development is being done through Gower's new company called Citi Life. He also is president of Prudential Gower Realty. His family has been in real estate in St. Petersburg for three generations.

Gower calls the Beach Drive area where a number of luxury condominiums have been built over the past few years - and where his real estate office is - the more conservative side of downtown. However, it is where the revival began.

Gower built a five-unit residential development downtown five years ago called Fareham Villas.

"It was so successful that I started looking around for land to do more," he said, adding that Eighth Street N is the next hot place.

"The lake is there (Mirror Lake) and it is the closest in area that is good for residential. I thought it was a natural spot."

It is even better for residential now because the Society of St. Vincent de Paul moved to another location, taking with it homeless people who often were seen near the society's soup kitchen on Arlington Avenue N.

"That was the biggest change," Gower said. "When they left, there were no gangs of homeless people hanging on every corner."

Gower owns about 140 rental units in the Eighth Street area, many of which will be torn down to make way for the new construction. He says some of the area in Arts on 8th has a bad reputation because of the substandard housing there, such as some of his own buildings.

He will start with a small project called the Muse Lofts, a building with 10 two-story lofts at 225 Eighth St. N. The industrial style building will include retail and parking space.

"Lofts are such a beautiful project. The finish can be a lot less plush. It's more industrial," said Gower. Preconstruction prices range from $180,000 to $300,000. Construction is supposed to start this fall and residents should be in by the spring.

The Muse will serve as a sales center for the 150-unit project Gower wants to do in phases called Imagine Lofts. The project at 216 Eighth St. N will include three buildings and a parking deck. The site is 1.25 acres and 11 lots.

The development will be mixed use, with retail space on the street level.

"It will be the first new retail in this area in a number of years," Gower said.

One of the other developers in the Arts on 8th is Versaggi Properties. Construction is scheduled to begin this week on Calla Terrace at 831 Third Ave. N. It will have 15 townhomes, also designed like lofts.

Already five of the 15 units are under contract, said Jackie Comstock, who works with Smith & Associates, the broker handling Calla Terrace.

The project includes three one-bedroom and 12 two-bedroom units. Comstock said the one-bedroom units all are under contract. Initial prices were $130,000 to $159,000. With construction starting, prices have risen to $159,000 to $174,500.

Among the commercial projects planned is the Arlington at 100 Eighth St. N. It involves the rehabilitation of a two-story building now owned by Milton H. Corson Jr. He plans a complete facelift.

The building has 8,500 square feet. Corson plans to take about 1,500 of the first floor for his real estate appraisal and consulting business, Corson and Associates Inc. That would leave 2,500 on the first floor and 4,300 on the second floor.

The biggest draw for the Arlington is its 36 parking spaces, Corson said.

"That is the key to this whole thing," he said.

Work on the million-dollar-plus project begins after the first of the year.

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