Ybor deal is a winner

Tampa's City Council took 11 minutes Thursday to approve a deal that tested the city's legacy of small-town politics.

The board agreed to restructure a development agreement with Chicago developer M&J Wilkow, the new owner of Centro Ybor, the troubled retail and entertainment complex in Tampa's historic Latin Quarter, Ybor City. The move stems the city's losses from a bad decision by the previous mayor to use a city-backed federal housing loan to get Centro going. Mayor Pam Iorio won new concessions for taxpayers and bolstered the city's leverage should the property sell. Just as importantly, she sent a message about how the city does business now.

The council gave Wilkow the latitude to convert retail space at Centro into offices or a hotel, which could generate more income. In return, Wilkow agreed to a plan whereby it could pay up to $5.9-million of the $14.5-million the city owes the Department of Housing and Urban Development for the start-up loan it guaranteed for Centro. The move could save the city millions at a time local governments are laying off employees and cutting services. By tapping Wilkow for help, Iorio also spared the next mayor the headache of having to scrounge nearly $8-million from housing and other funds to cover debt payments through 2018. It was a good financial move that brought much-needed certainty to the Centro project.

The deal also sent the right signal to the business community, particularly out-of-town investors looking at Tampa. A last-minute attempt by several Ybor business owners to buy out the city and the property threatened to make Tampa like a small-town throwback. This deal was months in the making, and any eleventh-hour switch for a home-town group would have made any outside investor think twice before bothering to come here.

The city has a history of giving Ybor's civic and business leaders wide latitude in shaping the area, in part because elected officials have feared alienating local residents who have financial or family ties to the quarter. But taxpayers have an interest in Centro, and more broadly, Ybor, through garages and other public investment in the tourist district. This deal makes the city more of a partner. That should encourage Wilkow to invest what it needs and strengthen the relationship between the two parties as they work to revive Centro. The deal also tells the business community the city will not make rash development decisions. That is what the equity markets and major corporate players need to hear if they are to consider Tampa.

[Last modified August 31, 2007, 22:44:30]