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RON MATUSDevelopers await a rezoning decision before beginning the transformation into lofts, townhouses and single-family units.
Until it closed its doors in February, the Wonder Bread plant on Dakota Avenue cranked out millions of loaves of bread, a heaven-sent smell and, to some, a hellish amount of truck traffic.
Soon, it may be selling a new product: easy living.
Developers plan to convert the 80-year-old bread factory into 32 lofts. Site plans submitted to the city earlier this month also call for 30 townhouses and four single-family homes.
"We're redeveloping the eyesore of that neighborhood," said developer Rick Wolfe, who is working with LandCraft Development and other investors.
Interstate Bakeries Corp., the Kansas City, Mo., company that makes Wonder Bread, decided to close the aging plant rather than modernize it.
Developers were expected to close Thursday on the purchase, which includes the 40,000-square-foot plant and 2.5 acres, said Wolfe and Tampa real estate agent Greg Andretta.
The sale price: $3.4-million.
Interstate Bakeries spokesman Mark Dirkes declined to comment.
The land is zoned for industry, but the developers are asking city officials to rezone it for residential development. A hearing before the City Council is set for February.
Given the building's historic feel, the plan is to restore as much of the original construction as possible, while stripping away add-on features, such as truck loading docks, Wolfe said.
The plant was built for the long haul.
Some of the wood and steel beams that hovered over giant ovens and mixing bowls are 2 feet thick. Some of the floors are made with 4-inch-thick planks.
"You look at it and say, "This is where you go in a hurricane,"' Wolfe said.
The lofts will probably sell for about $250,000 and the townhouses for about $300,000.
If the City Council approves the rezoning, construction could begin in the spring, with some units occupied by the end of next year, Wolfe said.
So far, neighbors like what they see - and hear.
The smell of baking bread enchanted Hyde Park residents and motorists cruising past on the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway. But those who lived closest to the plant said the smell couldn't make up for the din of idling trucks, or the obnoxious, one-of-a-kind sound of bread racks sliding across loading docks.
With lofts and townhouses, "it will be cars instead of trucks," said Fred Fisher, who lives across the street. "It's going to be nice."
"It's probably the best use of the property, from a neighborhood point of view," said Melicent Brams, who lives a block away. Brams said she can't give a final thumbs up until she sees the specifics, but "it sounds like it's in the right direction."
Brams offered one suggestion.
For the sake of history, she said, the developers should leave the smokestack intact.
- Ron Matus can be reached at 226-3405 or matus@sptimes.com