Townhomes and office space will transform a Channel District warehouse and a vacant lot near the Kennedy Boulevard corridor.
By MICHAEL CANNING
Published September 3, 2004
Gaspar Properties, which restored the Palace of Florence and other apartment buildings on Davis Islands, is bringing new office space and townhomes to two of Tampa's most active redevelopment areas.
Yet another old, brick warehouse in the Channel District is getting a makeover. Located on the southwest corner of Twiggs Street and Meridian Avenue, the 16,000-square-foot building houses the WACO Associates air filter company. Once the company moves out at the end of January, Gaspar president Hamilton Jones said he will begin renovations to create offices.
Gaspar plans to remove the stucco exterior to reveal the original red brick. He will open windows that have been filled in and cut new ones from the facade. Inside, he'll double the square footage to 32,000 by creating a second floor from the 22-foot-high space.
Jones said the space will be built to suit in offices as small as 3,000 square feet. Construction should take about a year to complete. Offices will cost $250 per square foot.
Meanwhile, Gaspar also plans to turn a vacant lot near the Kennedy Boulevard corridor into townhomes and offices. Construction is expected to start within 30 days at the northwest corner of Cleveland Street and Delaware Avenue.
A three-story, Mediterranean-style building will have six townhomes. They will range from 1,700 to 2,100 square feet and cost between $290,000 to $349,000. Each will have three bedrooms, 21/2 bathrooms and two-car garages.
A couple of months after that, Jones said he will break ground on the adjacent one-story office building. The 3,000-square-foot building will be built to suit and cost $675,000, he said.
NEW BANK ON HARBOUR ISLAND: A new Bank of Florida will open at One Harbour Place on Harbour Island.
It will be the third branch of the holding company Bancshares of Florida, which also has Bank of Florida branches in Naples and Fort Lauderdale. The Tampa branch should be open within 60 days, said president and chief executive officer Roy Hellwege.
It will occupy 6,000 square feet of the ground floor of the One Harbour Place office tower, next to the Wyndham Harbour Island Hotel. Thirteen staffers will provide commercial and retail banking services, wealth management, commercial real estate lending, treasury services and financial advising.
Because the location won't allow for a drive-through, Hellwege said the bank will offer valet parking and courier banking services for commercial and wealth management clients.
The bank will also occupy 3,000 square feet on the ninth floor. In the future, Bank of Florida hopes to build a new location for its executive offices and a bank branch in the West Shore business district, Hellwege said.
Each branch is independently chartered with local boards and management but shares the financial muscle of the publicly traded Bancshares of Florida in Naples, which has assets of about $330-million, he said.
"We'll have the feel of a community bank, but with the horsepower of public money behind us," Hellwege said.
CAR KARMA COULD MEAN CARWASH: For years, motorists filled up their tanks at a gas station on the northeast corner of Euclid and Manhattan avenues. Soon they might be able to wash their cars there instead.
Radiant Oil Co. is negotiating to sell the site to local carwash owner David Schoewe. Schoewe and his civil engineer, Greg Hentschel, are working on plans to demolish the old gas station and build a carwash.
Hentschel said the metal-roofed structure would have four self-serve bays and one automatic bay. It would be situated farther away from the back property line in order to be less of a nuisance to neighbors, he said.
Hentschel goes to the Tampa City Council Sept. 23 to request a zoning change for the project. If all goes well, he estimated construction could start sometime early next year.
The proposed name: the Manhattan Carwash. "We're hoping that George Steinbrenner will come wash his car and think that he's still in New York," he said.
REGIS SIGNED ON SOUTHTOWN: The first tenants have been named for the SouthTown Center retail development at Dale Mabry Highway and Neptune Street.
Hair salon giant Regis Corp. will open a Regis Trade Secret salon supply store and a Hair Masters salon, said SouthTown leasing agent Scott Wood. Each will occupy 1,300-square-foot storefronts.
They are expected to move in by late this month. Although the four-building, 45,000-square-foot project is nearing completion, Wood declined to comment on other prospective tenants.
In May, project developers Capstone Group Inc. hinted at a bank, florist, medical office, one or two restaurants and a coffee, wine and pastries shop.
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