Living on Old Main Street in Bradenton? It's more than likely to happen

Building projects with a commercial business on the ground floor and apartments on top is a mainstay of efforts to turn downtowns like Bradenton's into a vibrant place to live, work and play.

One developer thinks downtown Bradenton is ready for such a development.

A new ground floor restaurant with four apartments are being planned for the 1900 historic building in the 400 block of Old Main Street.

"There has always been a significant demand for more residential downtown," said businessman Mike Carter, a Downtown Merchants Association member and board member of the Bradenton Downtown Development Authority advisory board.

"We have always and continue to get requests for space above our building for residential use and most of those requests come from the younger generation looking for boutique apartments, so the opportunities and demand is definitely there."

Carter said his building, the historic Ivory Building across the street from the new project, is already built out and doesn't afford much of an opportunity to create upstairs housing.

"But if people can make the access and shared use work, then it's a big hit," he said. "People do build these everywhere, but it tends to look the same. But when you have the architectural value of a historical building, that makes it unique and very appealing."

Carter said developing housing in the existing structures represents some challenges, but nothing that can't be overcome.

"I certainly think the developers can expect the city to do everything possible to cooperate and help to make this happen," he said.

Planning and Community Development Director Catherine Hartley said it's early in the process, "But I'm really excited about it because so many people have said you can't do residential downtown. These guys are coming in to prove that you can."

Panama Street Apartments LP acquired the building located at 416 and 420 Old Main Street in October 2016 for $550,000. In March 2017, an interior demolition permit was pulled and for the following six months, the interior was gutted. The building had been vacant since 2013 following the death of local attorney and businessman James Wallace, who had practiced law in Bradenton for 60 years, many of them at the Old Main Street location.

"Mixed use in downtown Bradenton will definitely increase the urban core vibrancy," said Johnette Isham, Realize Bradenton's executive director. "Four apartments are a great start to demonstrate to the other building owners the importance and attractiveness of people living, working and playing downtown."

Isham said Realize Bradenton's millennial research continues to show the overwhelming majority of the younger generation are seeking out downtown locations where they can walk to everything they want and need to do.

"So even though this is a small project, the whole point is that it will set a great example for others and when you combine it with everything that is going on in downtown Bradenton, it helps complete the package that's moving the city forward in a really positive way. I think people have been hesitant to do this, but when they see it can be done successfully, that's going to lead the way for others to follow.

The building's owner, Lou Donato, of the Donato Development Group, splits his time between Canada and Sarasota. Donato likes the Main Street appeal and in 2012, spent $4.3 million on five buildings on Main Street in Sarasota to become the dominate owner of the street at the time.

Donato said his venture onto Old Main Street in Bradenton is "really early now and in the hands of the architect and engineers. We don't even have any drawings yet but hope to file something soon."

Donato said what the final product will look like remains unknown but a ground-floor restaurant with apartments on top is the likely outcome.

"We are going to try," he said. "Hopefully it works. It used to be a rooming house upstairs for many years and had 13 old-style apartments. We'll do four modern-day apartments because obviously more people want to live downtown."

Restaurateurs have already been contacting Donato.

"We've had some interest, but we haven't even started marketing it yet and won't until we get a set of drawings completed. So we haven't talked to anyone directly yet but will probably begin marketing it by the fall."

This story was originally published April 25, 2018 at 4:11 PM with the headline "Living on Old Main Street in Bradenton? It's more than likely to happen."