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Business

Manhattan Bagel, newsstand to leave Franklin St. home

Condos and shops are coming, which means places including Mr. Empanada must go.

By RICK GERSHMAN
Published December 16, 2005

DOWNTOWN - Willie Conley is a Manhattan Bagel fan. The Franklin Street restaurant is a short walk from Conley's financial planning office, and he enjoys a variety of the offerings.

Sometimes that's turkey on fresh pesto focaccia bread, and sometimes it's just a quick takeout sesame bagel.

In a couple of months, though, Conley won't be coming to 602 N Franklin St. for his bagel to go.

After more than 10 years here, Manhattan Bagel will be gone.

So will its neighbors, which include the Franklin Street Newsstand and restaurants Mr. Empanada and Wrap It.

The building that houses them and the adjacent Maas Brothers building, 612 N Franklin St., will be demolished soon for a condominium and retail development.

"It's a shame; I hope they can find another spot nearby," Conley said Monday. "We don't have much downtown as it is."

The irony is that these businesses were hoping residential development on the north end of downtown would bring in a broad customer base.

Soon the customers will be there, but those businesses won't.

"I've been waiting around all these years to see something happen," said Rob Dmetroshko, Manhattan Bagel's general manager. "And now that something does, they're kicking me out."

Pradip Patel and Henry Suarez, principals in the development project, were not available for comment.

Suarez replied to an e-mail that he was out of town. Elliott Ross, head of the realty company collecting rents at the property, said Patel was traveling to India this week.

Christine Burdick, president of the Tampa Downtown Partnership, said there were "two ways" to look at the businesses' eviction.

It's unfortunate that they're being displaced, she said, but another area of downtown will benefit if they can find a place there. Meanwhile, another space is being developed for a future business.

"I'm certainly sympathetic to the disruption of businesses," she said, "but I don't think it should be too difficult" to find new locations.

Manhattan Bagel had "established a good foothold here for the last 10 years," Dmetroshko said. But his restaurant has obstacles that go beyond the eviction.

New World Restaurant Group owns both Manhattan Bagel and Einstein Bros. Bagels. Because of differences in the franchise setups, Dmetroshko said, New World makes considerably more money from Einstein locations.

Mr. Empanada's general manager, Elliott Acosta, wasn't optimistic that his business will be able to find a new spot downtown.

The business won't see its first anniversary on Franklin Street. It opened in February and must be out by Jan. 15.

Acosta plans to close Mr. Empanada on Dec. 30. He has looked around for another downtown location but hasn't found anything suitable or in his price range. He will likely head for New Tampa or Brandon, he said.

He was "pretty upset" when he learned that the building was going to be demolished.

"We sank a lot of money into this place without realizing this was going to go," Acosta said. "We contacted a couple of attorneys, but they said the lease benefited the owners."

- Rick Gershman can be reached at rgershman@sptimes.com or 813 226-3431.

[Last modified December 15, 2005, 10:05:12]