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Rezoning allows costlier townhouses

Oldsmar officials hope the downtown project will benefit the entire community redevelopment area.

By NICOLE JOHNSON
Published January 15, 2005

OLDSMAR - A vote last week means bigger and more expensive townhouses for the city's downtown.

The City Council approved rezoning that allows Steve and Marie Becklund to upgrade their townhouse development from 12 units at 1,800 square feet each to 14 units at an average of 2,200 square feet.

That means townhouses that would have been valued at about $200,000 will now start closer to $300,000.

The decision gives a boost for an area in the city designated for redevelopment.

"Every time something gets built in the community redevelopment area, you're getting closer to what makes the total redevelopment of the area achievable," said Jerry Paradise, Oldsmar's director of planning and redevelopment.

Oldsmar's community redevelopment area is bound by St. Petersburg Drive to the south and east, Tampa Road to the north and State Road 580 to the west. The area was given the state designation about 10 years ago.

That designation allows for a portion of the tax revenue generated by building in the community redevelopment area to be reinvested in the zone to help pay for infrastructure needs, including streetscaping, water lines and landscaping. The more the area increases in value, the more money the city gets to use to improve it.

"It's a bootstrap approach," Paradise said.

The Becklund development, which faces St. Petersburg Drive where it intersects with Washington Avenue, is likely to generate $128,000 in tax revenue over the next five years, a significant increase from the $5,800 a year it now generates.

Last week's change means the zoning classification goes from Town Center Boulevard to Town Center Commercial Neighborhood. The new classification allows for small home businesses, such as law offices or architectural firms, inside the townhouses.

Developers plan to build two- and three-story townhouses. Each would have a two-car garage. The architecture style will be an Old Florida look. The owner expects the townhouses to be leased properties.

Any professional who has a small office can live here and have his business centrally located between Pasco County and St. Petersburg, said Victor Becklund, spokesman for the developers. "It's a business mecca."

To contact Nicole Johnson e-mail: njohnson@sptimes.com or call 727 771-4303.

[Last modified January 15, 2005, 02:35:15]