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City plans to buy apartments

By RITA FARLOW
Published April 2, 2007

LARGO - Last week, the city closed on a $1.8-million purchase of five parcels on the north side of West Bay Drive in the downtown core.

The largest property in the cluster is O'Houston's Irish Pub, which fronts Bay Drive. The other parcels are contiguous and extend north.

Next, the city plans to buy the small Stepping Stone apartment complex nearby.

Built in the 1950s on 0.86 acres, the apartments are owned by Religious Community Services, which has agreed to a price of $850,000, said Largo community development director Mike Staffopoulos.

The purchases are the latest steps in the city's sustained effort to assemble enough properties to create a redevelopment district on the north side of West Bay, which is Largo's main drag through downtown.

The aim is to attract a developer who then would build a project to complement the successful retail and residential development built on the south side of West Bay over the past few years.

Before buying the O'Houston's cluster, the city spent $650,000 buying other commercial properties on the same block, between Fifth and Sixth streets NW.

Earlier, it spent $700,000 on about a dozen residential parcels near the Largo Community Center, which is a couple of blocks east and slightly north of the property bought last week.

As the city presses forward with plans for the north side of West Bay, it must revise its current redevelopment plan to allow for higher densities, Staffopoulos said.

Current designations allow for a maximum density of 15 units per acre. Proposed revisions to the plan would nearly triple the density to more than 40 units per acre.

"We're hoping that the resulting project would be a minimum five- to six-story building, utilizing the entire site, not just a portion of it," he said.

Also envisioned are shaded walkways with benches and planters, a parking garage and housing and shops, Staffopoulos said.

The redevelopment plan is modeled after a national trend, called Smart Growth.

Using mixed-use land designations, developers are able to maximize the density of urban areas by building residential units atop stores and offices.

Part of the rationale behind the concept is to shorten residents' commutes by providing living space near where people work, shop and recreate.

If it goes forward as planned, the northside development likely will have more units than the townhomes on the south side.

That southside project was spurred by the city after it spent $4.2-million widening and landscaping West Bay between Missouri Avenue and Clearwater-Largo Road.

In 2002, the city sold the former City Hall property for $1.08-million to Hyde Park Builders of Tampa, which built 54 townhomes and the West Bay Village commercial complex, which includes restaurants and shops.

Further east, but back on the north side of Bay Drive, the city sold its old Police Department headquarters in 2004 for $800,000 to BayStar Hotel Group, which built the Hampton Inn & Suites across from Largo Central Park.

Staffopoulos said he hopes the city can buy the Stepping Stone apartments by July.

RCS appears eager to sell. Lisa Matzner, director of development for Religious Community Services, said that the transitional housing program has outgrown the small facility.

Only two families still reside there, Matzner said.

Other recent residents have transitioned out of the long-term housing program. Homeless families can still get help at RCS's Grace House, in Clearwater on Myrtle Avenue.

It provides short-term housing assistance.

"We're holding off on placing people, but of course, no one leaves Grace House and goes back to the street," Matzner said.

RCS would use proceeds from the Stepping Stone sale to purchase a larger, more modern building that would serve more families.

Selling Stepping Stone would be a "win-win" for RCS and the city, Matzner said.

Fast Facts:

Smart Growth

The rationale behind the redevelopment plan is to shorten residents' commutes by providing living space near where people work, shop and recreate.

[Last modified April 1, 2007, 21:53:50]