If it meets with city and neighborhood leaders' approval, a coffee shop could perk up business in a historic neighborhood.
By MICHAEL CANNING
Published May 28, 2004
The word is out in Old Seminole Heights. Starbucks might be coming.
A developer is looking into building a location for the coffee shop megachain on a vacant lot at the northeast corner of Hillsborough and Central avenues.
The news has created a buzz in the historic neighborhood, where the residents thirst for a cup of Aged Sumatra as well as the commercial development that could come with it.
"We are very excited about the location," said Linda Pearson of Englehardt, Hammer and Associates, a local planning firm hired by Pursuit Development Co. of Chicago to explore the project's feasibility.
"The news just spread like wildfire," said Bill Duval, president of the Old Seminole Heights Neighborhood Association. "The Central Avenue people are real excited."
Among Tampa's historic neighborhoods, Old Seminole Heights measures up in most regards. Its oak-shaded streets boast a healthy population of restored early 20th century homes. But despite a largely gentrified housing stock, its commercial profile pales in comparison to Hyde Park's and Palma Ceia's in South Tampa.
Old Seminole Heights' main thoroughfares - Florida, Nebraska and Hillsborough avenues - are dominated by car lots, motels and pawnshops. Drug dealing and prostitution are common. As a result, Old Seminole Heights residents often find themselves leaving their neighborhood for dining and entertainment.
New businesses have opened in recent years, including a smattering of shops, restaurants and art galleries. Yet they remain few and far between in a neighborhood that ranks as one of the city's largest.
Starbucks' arrival could mean a turning point for the neighborhood. The Seattle chain has a reputation for bringing high traffic and commercial development adjacent to its stores.
"I'd love to have a Starbucks there, definitely," said Ginger Morgan, owner of Ginger Snips Beauty Salon, immediately north of the proposed site. "Anything's better than what it is there right now. We need what Hyde Park has, where they walk around and they've got options."
Marcie Newton lives a block north of the proposed site, at 502 E Hillsborough Ave., where a Mobil gas station once stood. She isn't a big coffee drinker but is excited about the prospect.
"I've hated that open lot," she said. "Every weekend there's a new person trying to sell something there."
Despite neighbors' enthusiasm, Starbucks would likely face scrutiny from the city and the neighborhood association. Due to the association's efforts, the neighborhood has built a reputation of being tough on developers who aren't sensitive to the area's aesthetic character and issues related to density, such as parking and proximity to homes.
Last year the Krystal fast-food chain attempted to build a restaurant at the same site but withdrew when the city refused to grant it a 24-hour drive-through. "The city zoning department fronts for us all the time," said Duval, the association president.
Resident Alan Dobbs, an architect who has two vacant lots for sale near the prospective site, said he hopes Starbucks would consider all of its neighbors, not just the store's facade on Hillsborough.
"True urban development has four corners. It doesn't really have a back. I hope whatever they do doesn't just address Hillsborough," he said. "If they do a big ol' wall on the north side, and it's more a drive-through like an Indigo (Coffee), then I think it will affect (adjacent property values) negatively."
What exactly Starbucks and Pursuit Development may propose remains to be seen. Both say they will comment on the project in the near future, as will the property's owner, ExxonMobil.
But Pearson, the urban planner, said specific plans will be revealed to the city and neighborhood association by late summer. "We very much want to do something that is pleasing to the neighborhood," she said.
Duval said the neighborhood is looking forward to that. "We're very good at getting together and just hacking it out."
