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Project size: 157 acres for a planned residential and commercial development.
Total housing units: 4,500 to 5,000.
Low-income: 700 to 900 mid-rise one- to three-bedroom apartments; 150-unit senior tower.
Market rate units: 3,000 mid-rise lofts and condos; 400-600 rental apartments; 400-500 townhouses.
Estimated housing prices: $125,000 to $500,000.
Commercial construction: 185,000 square feet of retail space.
Other amenities: A lake formed by stormwater runoff; improvements to Perry Harvey Park, plus urban greenways and landscaping for streets creating an extra 13 acres of public parks.
Public costs: Civitas asked government to create a tax increment financing district, which requires that increases in property taxes be spent within the district. That would be used to help pay for $80-million in new roads, sewer lines and utility lines for Central Park. The development also would create a long-term need for expanded services, such as more firefighters, schools and sewer lines. The city could also have been asked to use condemnation power to buy private property. The Tampa Housing Authority, working with Civitas, also wanted a $20-million federal grant for the project. Public housing would be financed with bonds that come with 4 percent tax credits.
Private costs: Civitas estimated it would build more than $150-million in new low-income housing and $1-billion in market-rate properties, expanding the tax base by more than $1-billion and generating millions of dollars more in new city utility taxes. Civitas investors said they would finance one-third of the cost of infrastructure.
Under plan, Civitas would . . .
Give the housing authority money for every private unit it sells: $1,000 for every condo or townhome and $500 for every rental unit initially leased.
Set up financing that would fund a new nonprofit, A Foundation for a Better Place, that would pay for concerts, social events and charity work. Civitas also would leverage federal housing money to set up a trust fund to support low-cost and public housing programs.
Build low-cost homes on hundreds of lots in east Tampa, West Tampa and Tampa Heights outside the Central Park property. It would provide not only the lots, but also the residences, dubbed "Renaissance Homes."
Open a plant on 22nd Street in east Tampa to produce the steel panels for the new low-cost homes. The factory, financed by Bank of America, could employ at least 100 new workers.
Disclose the names of all current and future investors in the project.
Agree to pay an undetermined amount to the city to reimburse government lawyers, planners and staffers working on the project. Civitas, however, can get this money back through tax funds years later if the project succeeds.
Buy one aerial firetruck, needed to service high-rise buildings, which costs about $900,000.
Who's behind Civitas
At Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio's insistence, developers disclosed the lists of investors in the company that wants to redevelop Central Park. Developers also committed in writing to disclose future investors.
Bill Bahlke: president of Heidt & Associates, an engineering and surveying firm. Worked on projects including Tampa Palms, Avila, Bloomingdale and Carrollwood Village.
Bill Bishop: president of Leslie Land Corp. and managing director of Civitas. Helped to develop Westchase, Fishhawk Ranch and Highland Park.
CES Homes Inc.: Civitas says the company is affiliated with Jim Clark, president and CEO of Inland Homebuilding Group Inc., a Tampa-based builder of single-family homes and townhomes.
Glenn Cross: developer with the Tampa-based Shimberg-Cross Co.
First Commonwealth Mortgage Trust: The real estate investment trust of FCA Corp., based in Houston.
Jim Ferman Jr.: head of Ferman Motor Car Co. and a major philanthropist. Led the fundraising campaign for new Tampa Museum of Art.
Fuentes and Kreischer, PA: Tampa law practice specializing in real estate law. Led by Lawrence E. Fuentes and Albert C. Kreischer Jr.
James Griffin: president, Griffin Electrical Sales, based in Tampa.
Kim Griffin: operations manager, Griffin Electrical Sales.
Toxey Hall: executive vice president of Heidt & Associates.
Hannah-Bartoletta: Builders of custom homes in areas including Tampa Palms, Sunset Lakes and Highland Park. Co-founders Charley Hannah and Mike Bartoletta sit on the Civitas board.
Horizon Sheepcliff LLC: Civitas says the company is affiliated with Rex Farrior, a lawyer who is president of a real estate and corporate investment firm.
Thomas Huggins III: president, Ariel Business Group, a management consulting firm, and chairman, Tampa-Hillsborough Urban League board.
Hyde Park Builders Investment LLC: Affiliated with Scott Shimberg, co-owner of Hyde Park Builders. Shimberg was voted Builder of Year in 2001.
Rick Mortensen: president of Mortensen Engineering Inc., a Tampa-based firm that has worked on projects including the St. Pete Times Forum, Westchase and the Citrus Park Town Center, now known as Westfield Shoppingtown Citrus Park. John Rinehart: partner in the Orlando planning and architecture firm of Glatting, Jackson, Kercher, Anglin, Lopez, Rinehart Inc.
Mandell "Hinks" Shimberg: developer with Shimberg-Cross Co. Past board chairman, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.
Ed Turanchik: former CEO of Florida 2012, nonprofit organized to bid for the 2012 Olympics. Former Hillsborough County commissioner.
Don and Erika Wallace: He is chief executive officer, Lazy Days RV Super Center and a major philanthropist. She is his wife and vice president of the board of the Spring of Tampa Bay.
WRB Enterprises: a Tampa-based company with investments in public utilities, Caterpillar equipment dealerships, real estate and desalination facilities. Its chairman is Bob Blanchard, a member of the Civitas board.
- Sources: Civitas, city of Tampa, Times files