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The rhetoric over a Tampa redevelopment plan has reached a histrionic state, and it is time for city and county leaders to take a breath and realize the opportunity to reshape downtown is not going away.
While the city of Tampa and Hillsborough County must decide this week whether to incorporate new public housing into a broader urban development, there is time to make an informed decision about how best to move forward. The city and county should express generic support for turning around the slum area called Central Park, but they should limit their support to Civitas' still-evolving development plan.
Civitas, a for-profit development group, wants to convert 157-acres north of downtown into townhomes, cafes and shops. It wants the city and Tampa's housing authority to agree on a land-swap and other concessions to make the project possible. The plan calls for tearing down low-income housing and building new homes for people who would be displaced. The housing authority would replace these homes using $20-million in federal housing funds, and low-income units would be part of Civitas' larger, tonier neighborhood. The city and county would help by steering millions of dollars in tax credits to Civitas, by creating a tax district to fund parking, sewers and other amenities and by giving Civitas some limited authority to govern the new community.
All Civitas needs right now is for the city and county to agree to consider creating the taxing district. Actually, creating the district comes later, after a long process of public hearings establishes the need to offer tax breaks to attract investment to the area. It is reasonable to consider Central Park for such special attention. The city and county also have an interest in integrating new public housing within quality communities.
But Civitas is using Saturday's deadline for applying for federal housing funds to pressure for a much broader community commitment for its development plans. The process looks more like a shotgun wedding than policymaking. Why should a $20-million federal grant dictate the timing and analysis of a $1-billion urban renewal project? There are many questions to explore about a Civitas deal - from the number of people it would displace, to its effect on the landscape, to the financial risks to taxpayers.
The city and county should offer, at most, statements dictating their terms for support, along with an interest in considering a redevelopment district for Central Park. If this is not good enough for Civitas, fine. It will need the city's agreement to develop there, anyway. The company has already said it would propose another plan should the grant be denied. What's important is that public officials not be carried away by breathless appeals to their sense of civic pride. The scope of this deal may be historic, but acquiescing to it, with all these unknowns, is hardly a test of leadership or a legacy issue for the mayor. This is a real estate deal. Let's keep our wits.