3 developers to prepare Central Park plans

By JANET ZINK
Published May 25, 2005

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TAMPA - A selection committee on Tuesday chose three developers to prepare detailed plans on rebuilding the Tampa Housing Authority's rundown Central Park Village just north of downtown.

The committee, made up of representatives from the Housing Authority, the city and Hillsborough County, received six responses to its request for qualifications from developers.

They gave top marks to Michaels Development, the New Jersey company that is building Belmont Heights Estates in place of Tampa's College Hill public housing complex.

Creative Choice Homes, based in Palm Beach Gardens, ranked second, based on an evaluation that included technical ability, familiarity with the region and access to funding. Creative Choice lists Kiran Patel as its finance partner. Patel recently pledged $18.5-million to the University of South Florida.

Creative Choice has built public housing complexes throughout Florida, including St. Petersburg.

The third ranked proposal came from A Better Place Group, headed by Bill Bishop and Don Wallace.

Bishop and Wallace were key players in Civitas, the for-profit developer that in 2003 made a failed attempt to build a 157-acre master planned community in place of the complex.

The Bank of America Community Development Corporation is partnering with A Better Place.

The 28-acre Central Park is strategically located between Ybor City and the north end of downtown Tampa, which is in the midst of a residential and commercial redevelopment boom.

City leaders want to see Central Park redeveloped to blend into the surrounding neighborhood.

The three groups have until the end of July to prepare a final proposal and make oral presentations in August, when the committee will make its final decision.