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Everybody's Business

For coffee shop, it's time to go

Blackhawk Coffee Cafe will close. Other changes are likely with a new ownership mix at Old Hyde Park Village.

By MICHAEL CANNING
Published July 22, 2005

With a new majority owner, more changes are sure to be in store for Old Hyde Park Village.

Blackhawk Coffee Cafe, the only coffee shop in the long troubled shopping center, won't be around to see them.

Blackhawk co-owner Bret Douglas said he plans to close the business by the end of this month, when the lease expires.

"We've recognized that with the redevelopment that's coming to the Village, it's time for us to go," Douglas said.

That redevelopment will come courtesy of Wasserman Real Estate Capital, which specializes in revitalizing underperforming outdoor shopping centers. The Providence, R.I., company recently bought a 75 percent stake of the Village from Madison Marquette Realty Services of Washington, D.C.

Wasserman principal David Wasserman isn't saying what exactly will happen at the shopping center, or when. But he mentioned a number of ideas being considered, including adjusting the mix of tenants, increasing public space and art and somehow bridging the physical gap of Swann Avenue, which separates about a quarter of the businesses from the rest of the Village. Madison Marquette will continue to manage the center.

Wasserman also said they could add residences, perhaps rental, within the Village's boundaries.

He says he has a lot of confidence in the plaza.

"It's one of the most beloved shopping centers around, and it's in a residential neighborhood that's really appreciative of where it has been," Wasserman said. "It just needs to be fixed."

To hear Douglas tell it, the fix is long overdue. He said the closings of key tenants such as Jacobson's, the Gap, Banana Republic and the Cactus Club have decreased foot traffic since Blackhawk opened in 2000. "Business certainly hasn't been as good in the last couple years as it has been in the first three," Douglas said.

He and most everyone else point to the same culprit - competition in recent years from newer and bigger indoor malls, including International Plaza and Westfield Citrus Park.

But Douglas said he has faith in the Village and in Wasserman's proposed changes. "In the long term I think it's going to be wonderful," he said, adding that the shopping center's management has expressed interest in the possible return of his coffee shop.

"We absolutely would consider that," Douglas said. He wouldn't say whether Blackhawk would open somewhere else in the meantime.

AUTO PARTS IN OLD BARBERSHOP: NAPA Auto Parts will soon expand into a small storefront next door, said building co-owner Jeff Italiano.

When NAPA moved in to 3705 Henderson Blvd. last fall, it took up all but about 300 square feet of the 8,263-square-foot building. The rest was occupied by the International Barbershop, a business that had served South Tampa for several decades.

But Italiano said he promised NAPA they could expand into the barbershop space once its lease expired in June. Barbershop owner Antonio Castellano left June 25.

LIONS EYE YBOR BUILDING: A cool organization deserves cool digs. Or at least cooler digs.

And so the Lions Eye Institute for Transplant and Research will soon move from a nondescript office park near Tampa International Airport to a former cigar factory in Ybor City.

Institute executive director Jason Woody said the move from 5523 W Cypress St. to the corner of Fourth Avenue and 21st Street should happen the second week of September. The 1907 vintage Lozano Building will provide the institute with 30,000 square feet, three times its current space.

Woody said the Ybor location, besides being in a more interesting neighborhood, is also closer to Interstate 4. That will make the institute more accessible to travelers from its offices in Jacksonville, Orlando and Fort Myers.

Besides serving as the institute's corporate headquarters, the Lozano Building will also house research for glaucoma and macular degeneration, as well as an eye bank. A 6,000-square-foot meeting room on the second floor can be rented out at little or no cost to other nonprofit organizations, Woody said.

The building, previously occupied by the Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission, was bought by the institute five months ago and underwent renovations.

The institute is affiliated with the Lions Club International, a charitable organization devoted to sight restoration.

Do you know something that should be everybody's business? Call 226-3382, or e-mail mikecanning@hotmail.com

[Last modified July 21, 2005, 08:56:10]