Bradenton officials give first green light to new 12-story downtown apartment building
Turning a former government building on a key corner into attainable housing is a dream come true, officials said Wednesday morning as they agreed to support a major development in downtown Bradenton.
Developers presented a $30 million plan to demolish the old public defender’s office at the corner of Manatee Avenue and Ninth Street West and replace it with a mixed-use, 12-story apartment building that will provide more affordable units for the local workforce.
“This is a pretty exciting day to maybe see something happen that we dreamt would happen a long time ago,” said City Administrator Carl Callahan.
The project is set to provide up to 130 attainable housing units, which will be required to remain within a certain rental range aimed at those who make the area’s median income. The development, called Nine20 Manatee, must meet that requirement for at least 12 years.
The ground floor is slated to include about 5,000 square feet of retail space, as well as a dedicated bike storage area. Amenities are also planned, such as a dog park, outdoor gathering space on the roof and fitness areas. Those ideas came from a series of meetings with young professionals in the area, developers said.
“They wanted grilling areas, fire pit areas and places to meet outside, so we put those on steroids,” said Ron Allen, the developer behind the Nine20 Manatee project. “There’s a view of downtown that’s spectacular.”
According to Allen, who is also president of NDC Construction Company, the 1- and 2-bedroom units are expected to cost between $1,100 and $1,300 a month.
“This is exactly what we need — downtown living space,” said Councilman Patrick Roff. “This is going to be high-quality living at the best price we can offer.”
The Bradenton City Council voted unanimously Wednesday morning to approve the development agreement, which waived impact fees for the development and created a parking agreement.
Under that agreement, Allen will pay $10,000 annually for seven years to rent the majority of the parking spaces at the downtown post office, which is across Ninth Street West from the site. Those spaces are “terribly underutilized,” said Callahan.
The Nine20 Manatee development will be allowed about 90 spaces on the north side of that lot, while 15 spaces will remain available to the post office. Allen is also allowed to rent out 60 spaces in Bradenton’s City Centre garage to his tenants.
Those deals are integral parts of a public-private partnership that will help drive down the cost of the units, Allen said.
“The intent for this project is to be attainable housing, which we feel is important for our community,” he explained. “The hard part is the cost with rental rates that are affordable and attainable. It’s a difficult task.”
The 0.71-acre site was previously used as the public defender’s office until it moved to the Manatee County Judicial Center in 2007. Allen acquired the building with a successful $100,000 bid when Manatee County government sold off the lot as surplus property in June 2019.
Councilman Bill Sanders voted in favor of the development agreement but said he took issue with waiving impact fees, estimated to be worth about $400,000, and allowing the Nine20 Manatee development to use city-owned parking lots.
“The project is very, very good, but there is a cost to it, and the public needs to know that,” Sanders said.
Mayor Gene Brown, who spoke in support of the project in an interview with the Bradenton Herald, argued that the city has to also consider the benefit of providing incentives to developers.
“There is cost, but there is benefit,” Brown said. “When you can come up with a win-win, we’ve got to get the benefit out on both angles, not just the cost.”
Allen will come back before the City Council at later dates for approval of a preliminary site plan and a separate tax agreement with the Community Redevelopment Agency.
This story was originally published January 13, 2021 at 3:05 PM.
