New development, redevelopment taking place in MidTown Manatee

MANATEE -- A new wings restaurant is set to open next week along 14th Street West, making it another sign of redevelopment along the busy urban corridor.

Buffalo Wild Wings, which will open April 25, is a 5,885-square-foot restaurant located at 4120 14th St. W. Manatee County's second "B-Dubs" will also have a 795-square foot covered patio, according to a site plan on file with Manatee County.

"There are great things happening in the urban core," Commissioner Betsy Benac said during last week's commission meeting. "Lots of construction, lots of funding going into the sidewalks, the improvements that are being made along 41, which I think does encourage redevelopment. ... I'm really glad to see that Buffalo Wild Wings because that was supposed to be a LongHorn Steakhouse a long time ago so we now we get both. That's a good thing."

The Buffalo Wild Wings located along this corridor is one of a number of projects currently underway in MidTown Manatee, an area that stretches from 27th Avenue West to Cortez Road along 14th Street West.

"We have just sort of been cataloging what's been going on in the area and there does seem to be an uptick in what is going on," said Karen Stewart, Manatee County's economic development program manager.

This area was a focus when the 14th Street West Community Redevelopment Area existed and even after the CRA sunseted in 2014, the focus has remained, Stewart said.

"We put the signs up and we worked with a consultant who worked with the area businesses and pulled them together and provide some resources and training," she said. "We made an effort to organize those businesses. ... We are providing the entire (Southwest Tax Increment Financing District) rapid response permitting for companies that either want to locate there or helping them with information from business scoping and providing connections to other resources in the community that make sense."

With some existing businesses expanding and new ones opening, it is a start, Stewart said.

"We are very encouraged by the number of companies that are developing and redeveloping and investing here but we are really hoping for, our vision, is to improve the area and to have one of those really cool mixed use projects in an old area that needs to be redeveloped," she said.

Commissioner Charles Smith, who represents the area, said the redevelopment is much needed as it will provide job opportunities and increase quality of life.

"With the new businesses coming in and everything, it gives the 14th Street corridor and other areas things to uplift the community," he said. "Every time a business opens up, it gives opportunity for another one to open up."

These are major investments occurring in an area where that hasn't happened in years, Smith said.

"I see progress of what's taking place," he said. "I see a whole different atmosphere there and it's only going to get better. ... I'm excited because there are other businesses to come. This is just a start of something major and something the community really needs."

Projects happening in MidTown Manatee

Over the past two years, there has been more interest in the area, Stewart said.

"I think a lot of these things have been in play for a little while and are now coming to fruition as a result of improved lending for businesses," she said. "It's still hard, but it's a little better than it had been for a long time and also we have a lot of people moving here. When you have increased residences, there is also the need for increased services."

Furniture Warehouse, 1100 Cortez Road W., Bradenton, recently completed a nine-month expansion and renovation. The store, which now has a children's section and a clearance section, expanded into the old Office Depot space.

"We did a considerable amount of renovation not only to interior of the building but the exterior of the building," Stephany Richmond, vice president of Furniture Warehouse, said of the $900,000 project.

At 27,500 square feet, which is more than double the store's old size, Furniture Warehouse is now the largest tenant in the complex, Richmond said.

"It is a very good producing store for us," Richmond said. "Business has been very good. ... It's been a tested and tried location for 16 years. It wasn't a gamble."

Near the intersection of Cortez Road and 14th Street West, it is "very centrally located in Bradenton," Richmond said.

"We wouldn't want to be in a bad area," she said. "Our competition is in good proximity to us and it's good to be close. I think it's one of the key spots in Bradenton, which is 41 and Cortez Road. It's a prime location."

The location was also a factor for Tamiami Tennis Academy, which is proposing to build on a 4-acre lot between the Lowes shopping complex on Cortez Road and the Palm Village mobile home community. The proposed academy is in permitting.

"This place attracts with its convenient location," said Sergey Ibragimov, who heads the development company building the new academy. "In our opinion, this place has potential for development on the basis of indicators of the convenience, location and cost."

While some initiatives such as the Peace Community Park improvements and the street median landscape improvements are from the CRA days and continued under the SWTIF, others like the location of government services such as the Manatee County Tax Collector and Manatee County Sheriff's Office are redevelopment, Stewart said.

"They were buildings that were abandoned and empty and now have a great use and can be convenient locations for citizens," she said.

A Florida Department of Transportation resurfacing project is one of the improvement projects taking place on U.S. 41.

These "are all things that are outside of the county but kind of complement what we are doing," Stewart said. "There is a lot of focus on the area."

But with a number of prime sites, including the former site of the Joey D's on 14th Street West, which recently becoming available, there is potential for redevelopment there, Stewart said.

"In a very condensed area, there is a lot of little things going on and I think the biggest benefit for this area going forward is there are some vacant parcels as well," she said.

Code changes to encourage redevelopment

To address the lack of redevelopment along major corridors such as U.S. 41 and Cortez Road, the county is currently updating the Land Development Code, which implements the Comprehensive Plan for urban corridors since the current code is more suburb-oriented.

The update, which is expected to go before the county commission for approval this year, will focus on urban corridors including Manatee Avenue, Cortez Road, 53rd Avenue/State Road 70, Tamiami Trail and 15th Street East.

"The Land Development changes are going to be incentives because there is going to be increased density so it's going to be easier to build certain things along the corridor," Stewart said. "The setbacks will be changed and that will make it easier to build along the corridor, too, so some of those Land Development changes are going to be an incentive, a real incentive for developers."

The current code has some "handcuffs" in place, which doesn't make it easy to do any redevelopment or development along the corridors, said John Osborne, the county's planning official.

"The changes we are making will provide the increased flexibility needed to help incentivize redevelopment along major corridors in southwest county," he said.

If a proposed development is consistent with the new code, they won't have to go through the public hearing process if the parcel is located right along a corridor, Osborne said.

"We are trying to incentivize the redevelopment," he said. "Something that has been called for 10, 15 years now. MidTown Manatee will benefit from our future changes to the Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Code to the urban corridors."

The county is meeting "with everybody that we can" about the SWTIF and changes in the Land Development Code, Stewart said.

"All those things are underpinnings for future development in the area," she said. "Once those generate the incentives for density and all those kinds of things then that will be a time when we can explore what else can be offered."

Economic development spurs other development

When a business moves into a certain area, some people wonder why the business is opening in that area, said Sara Hand with Spark Growth, a local business incubator.

"The first person is considered crazy," she said. "The second person is not so crazy then you begin something cool happening."

With Buffalo Wild Wings opening, which is "foody entertainment," it could spur other development in that area, Hand said.

"What you are going to see happen here in the next couple of years is going to be absolutely incredible," Hand said. "It is a trickle effect. ... We are definitely a community that is going somewhere."

Certain types of development will spur other development as well, Osborne said.

"A lot of time the name brands won't go in unless other brand is there," he said. "There is that chaining. ... A business basically helps incentivize other businesses as well."

Economic development always brings other development, Stewart said, adding that they have a map of all the vacant parcels along the corridors.

"Companies think if it's good for them it's good for us, too," she said. "When there is some synergy going on in an area, we want to point that out so that other businesses or people that want to move their small business from maybe their garage onto the corridor, they will see the benefit of that."

Claire Aronson, Manatee County reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7024. Follow her on Twitter@Claire_Aronson.

This story was originally published April 16, 2016 at 9:20 PM with the headline "New development, redevelopment taking place in MidTown Manatee ."