Potential developers take a look at what housing in the Old Jail could mean

Wires hang from the Old Jail’s ceiling. A red infectious waste can sits in the middle of the floor. Dust covers the remaining desks.

After nearly 10 years of being vacant, Manatee County officials are hoping to see the more than 80,000-square-foot Old Jail building transformed from its current condemned state into workforce housing.

About 15 people toured the six separate floors of the Old Jail building Monday afternoon as the county continues its Invitation to Negotiate process for a long-term lease of the Judicial Center site, 1051 Manatee Ave. W. The building’s top floors still resemble what was once a jail — complete with individual jail cells.

Photos were not permitted during the tour.

“It is about what I expected,” said Joe Chambers, managing director for the southeast of Gardner Capital Development. “I don’t visit jails very often.”

As Gardner Capital considers submitting a proposal to the county, Chambers said “the tour is always important to get an idea of what we are bidding on.”

“We’ve done a lot of rehabs,” he said, noting that this would be the first jail.

It is interesting, said Lance Clayton, with Leslie Wells Realty who came with client Gardner Capital.

“I think it has a lot of potential,” Clayton said. “I think it is a great asset for the community.”

Monday was not the first time Jedd Heap, with Fawley Bryant Architects, toured the Old Jail, but with a client interested in participating in the project, Heap was taking another look.

“There is no way to really know what we are looking at until we establish what is here, what can come out and what stays,” he said.

Karl Hees, a structural engineer who came with Heap for the tour, said he “absolutely” sees the potential to turn it into housing.

“It looks like a thorough substantial building,” Hees said. “I mean how cool would that be, downtown housing.”

Heap added: “Just to say I live in the Old Jail it would be pretty cool.”

Proposals to redevelop the Old Jail building are due at 4 p.m. Sept. 15.

“The vision is to redevelop the vacant jail building space into a usable space, which may include rental apartments or condominium apartments with mixed income housing, with a suggested marketing of 25 percent or more of the units to millennial population for the upper floors, with a potential commercial storefront space on the lower floors,” the ITN states.

Manatee County is excited about the project, Charlie Bishop, the county’s property management director, told the individuals before the tour.

“It has been a long time coming,” he said. “We are excited to see something come of it.”

This story was originally published August 8, 2016 at 3:50 PM with the headline "Potential developers take a look at what housing in the Old Jail could mean."