City officials discuss future of East Bradenton developments

BRADENTON -- Lessons learned from the failed plan to build a new grocery store in East Bradenton are guiding the city's approach to two other proposed developments in the neighborhood.

As for the proposed grocery store, it might be time to re-think that idea, city council members said during a work session Wednesday.

The other two projects, which like the failed grocery store at First Street and 13th Avenue West are being overseen by the Central Community Redvelopment Agency, are the redevelopment of the 1950s-era Love Apartments at Sixth Street Court East and Ninth Avenue East, and the Martin Luther King Jr. mixed development at Ninth Avenue East and Third Street East.

CCRA Manager Jesus Nino brought the council up to speed on the challenges that lie ahead for the three projects. The Love Apartments and MLK mixed-use project are part of a dual effort to tear down and redevelop the Love Apartments while building a new residential, retail and office space complex. Nino said the CCRA has selected North Star Development and Prime America as the development team.

"North Star and Prime America are very experienced in tax credits and they have a pretty stellar record," said Nino.

The city council should receive a memorandum of understanding outlining a development agreement soon -- with lessons learned from the failed attempt to build the Save-A-Lot-anchored Minnie L. Rogers Plaza.

"These are the two biggest projects the CCRA will be juggling, but we are making it clear to the developers that we will not be putting up tons of money up front," said Nino. "They will be the developer, not the CCRA. We are there to partner and help plan, and that's it."

The city is working through the legalities of getting the grocery store property back from Wisconsin-based Endeavor Corp., which never moved forward with development despite a guarantee of $6 million in tax credits, CCRA loans and other financing.

After several years of delays, Endeavor said it wanted even more money from the CCRA. When that failed, Endeavor failed to close on a Dec. 31 deadline for the needed tax credits.

City Clerk Carl Callahan said any development agreement for the Love Apartments and MLK mixed-use projects will ensure the city and CCRA never make the same kind of mistakes again.

"The good thing about this process is we are trying to lay out exactly how it will work and who has the liabilities," said Callahan. "Once the documents are before the council, North Star can move forward with the pre-development activities like finding their source of funding, whether it be through tax credits or not."

The process is lengthy. Although these projects have been at the forefront of CCRA goals for years, Nino said it could be another two to three years before anything becomes a reality. North Star has a reputation for success in not only securing funding for viable projects, he said, but ensuring the right project for the community.

"The first proposal we saw was pretty high density," said Nino. "But the president of North Star came in and knew immediately it wasn't right. He's not going to just shove units on the property. He wants to do something good for the community."

The future of the grocery store site remains in limbo. While the CCRA and some council members still feel a grocery store is appropriate given the community's needs and wants, it's unclear if that will ever happen.

Ward 4 Councilman Bemis Smith, who has opposed the grocery proposal, said holding a developer to a fixed use for that property may never attract anyone to try a grocery store concept again. Mayor Wayne Poston said the council needs to hear from someone specializing in grocery store operations, "because neighborhood grocery stores are essentially nonexistent. We can't just say do it because the public wants it. Grocery stores operate completely different now, and we can't beat our heads against something that may not be viable."

Mark Young, Herald urban affairs reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7041 or follow him on Twitter@urbanmark2014.

This story was originally published February 17, 2016 at 4:50 PM with the headline "City officials discuss future of East Bradenton developments ."