Ripe for redevelopment

The crack houses quashed, a block of Midtown is poised for change. Here's how it all came about.

ST. PETERSBURG - In just three years, a block of Midtown has gone from crack houses to potential residential development to grocery store site and historic development.

This happened because of a lawsuit, a partnership and the city deciding the 3.6-acre site now called the Queensboro project was right for redevelopment about the same time developers had assembled it into one parcel.

The lawsuit involved Darryl Rouson, lawyer, president of the local chapter of the NAACP and former drug addict. He just wanted to shut down some crack houses on Queensboro Avenue S. He sued the owners, and they gave him the land to drop the lawsuit.

So Rouson had four parcels of land but no firm plans.

He called his fraternity brother, Larry J. Newsome.

Newsome now heads the company that is bidding to build a Kash n' Karry grocery store on the site. He worked for Florida Progress and then Echelon Development when the development company was spun off from the energy company. He left Echelon in 2000 and was looking into development possibilities when Rouson called.

"He said he had this property, and he didn't have any idea what to do," Newsome said. The site is bounded by 21st and 22nd streets S and 18th Avenue and Queensboro Avenue S. It is nearly the heart of Midtown, a 5.5-square mile section of inner St. Petersburg that has been targeted for extra resources to improve living conditions there.

Newsome looked it over and decided that it might be a good place to build 10 or 15 new houses if he and Rouson could get other lots on the block. They formed Aracle Homes in 2000, a partnership between Rouson's nonprofit Community Benefit Network Inc. and Newsome's Aracle Realty. It held lots 2, 3, 4 and 5 on the map that accompanies this story. Those were the lots that Rouson had. He relinquished his hold on the property to the partnership through quit claim deeds, and the dilapidated homes on them were demolished.

Aracle Homes started acquiring other pieces of property: 1, 6 and 17 through purchase and 10 and 11 through tax deed auctions.

Newsome said he began hearing of residents' desires for a grocery store. He and Rouson reassesed plans and decided they should do a commercial development. They began calling on grocery chains.

"One of the things we became aware of was concern about coming to the area and not having anything else there but them," he said.

Grocery chains preferred a site that would include other retailers.

"Somewhere along this continuum, I started talking to Goliath Davis (deputy mayor for Midtown) about what the city was planning for the area," Newsome said. He learned their plans were similar.

City officials were after a grocery store, too, having been told by residents that it was one of the top needs. Midtown has only one chain grocery, a Winn-Dixie at its northern edge. Much of the area is served by smaller specialty markets. Often, those are more expensive.

"I decided it might make more sense if we coordinated efforts," Newsome said. The city liked the idea that Aracle already had put together about half the lots in the block.

When Mayor Rick Baker announced in March that he wanted the city to buy the block, Aracle either owned or had under contract most of the 21 parcels. Two, 7 and 21 were out of the purchase picture at the time and the city already owned lot 13.

St. Petersburg paid $275,000 for the nine lots that Aracle owned, including the four Rouson brought to the partnership.

Aracle Homes spent $140,000 to $150,000 on those properties, including demolition of the houses and environmental studies.

"It wasn't just the city giving us this money for vacant land," Newsome said. What they made on the property has been reinvested in the company that wants to develop the grocery site.

The other nine lots Aracle had under contract were reassigned to the city. The city paid the owners the price that had been agreed to with Aracle. Prices ranged from a low of $18,000 to a high of $185,000. Then there were commission costs, closing costs and other associated fees such as relocations and appraisals.

The reassignment also cost the city $21,000, which it paid to Aracle for the work Aracle already had done on some of the properties.

In all, the city paid $1.13-million for the land. By the time the deal was closing, lots 7 and 21 were included.

Newsome now is president and chief executive officer of Urban Development Solutions, the nonprofit company that submitted the only bid to develop the site. Rouson is one of the board members.

They want to lease the land back from the city for $1 per year for a $4.9-million shopping center to be anchored by Kash n' Karry. They will use grants and loans to build it, including a $1-million loan from the city.

The St. Petersburg City Council first must approve the deal.

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