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Businessman closes on Y purchase
By LENNIE BENNETT
© St. Petersburg Times, ST. PETERSBURG -- The old downtown YMCA is on its way to becoming one of the priciest, and most original, residences in Pinellas County. Clearwater businessman Tony Amico closed on the historic building at 116 Fifth St. S on Tuesday morning, paying $440,000 for it with the intention of spending several million dollars more to convert it into a single-family residence for his family. "I have a nice place now," said Amico, who lives in the Reserve in north Pinellas. "But I thought it would be a lot of fun to live downtown." The four-story, 46,000-square-foot building has a gym, swimming pool and a warren of small offices and bedrooms. Amico said that because of its design, he can gut most interior walls and open spaces up. "And the pool . . . isn't it beautiful?" he said. He wants to convert the handball court into a boccie court and the gym into a two-story ballroom. For YMCA chief executive officer Doug Linder, the sale brings closure to a year of change for the organization. It recently moved into a new $11-million facility at 31st Street and First Avenue S, raising all but $400,000 of the tab. The old building was on the market for more than a year, with an asking price of $848,000. Speculation for its conversion included offices, apartments or condominiums. Several potential buyers came forward. But until Amico, no offer was made that the board of directors felt was acceptable. "The board has always said we could use the sale money for the building," Linder said. "But I'm hoping we can raise that amount and save this for an endowment." Linder and his staff of 15 are now looking for downtown office space. "We never intended to move our administrative offices out to the new building," he said. "They have a separate staff to run it. To add the square footage for our offices would probably have cost another $500,000." He said they would probably lease space for now and use this money to begin an endowment. Linder said the YMCA will break ground this week on a much smaller construction project, a 5,000-square-foot building at 2421 Fourth St. S for the Y Achievers program, an after-school tutorial service. Its cost is about $400,000 and has been fully funded by a federal block grant and a donation from longtime supporter Lois Naylor. Amico said he has no specific architectural plans and no timetable yet for his new digs. "I'm anticipating it being a residence and my personal office. With what's going on in the world today, the uncertainty, things may change. But I bought it with the intention of making it my home. It's not going to be torn down."
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
