By Michael Eng | Managing Editor
For Plant City Commissioner Rick Lott, it is nearly impossible to overstate the potential of the Midtown project.
“This will be the most significant development in Plant City since Walden Lake,” he says.
Indeed, a mixed-use project straddling Collins Street just south of downtown would change completely the appearance and feel of the city’s core. City leaders believe the Midtown project holds the potential not only to bolster the local business economy but also add local jobs and value to Plant City real estate.
And Lott — who coined the term “Midtown” when the plan was revealed in 2007 — can’t wait to see it.
“It is thrilling to have an opportunity to see something of this magnitude move forward,” he says. “It’s a bold move, but we (city staff and commissioners) are 100% behind the vision.”
The new year should prove to be a big one for the project. With the environmental cleanup work mostly complete, the Plant City Commission will examine a plan for Midtown’s green space. Also, work will begin in March on realigning Wheeler Street between Renfro and Alabama streets.
Furthermore, the city is working with a development consultant to craft a Request for Proposals for Midtown, which should yield the first glimpses of the project’s potential.
“That RFP is important; we need to do a good job marketing,” Lott says. “We need to tell a good story about what’s there. We need to give them a clean sheet of paper and let them put their vision on it.”
BACKGROUND
The idea for Midtown came following the closing of several businesses in the 85 acres just south of downtown.
“As a city, we had two choices,” Lott says. “We could sit back and do nothing. Or, we could come up with a vision to correct the issue there and get it ready for redevelopment.”
The issues, he says, were daunting. Many of the structures were dilapidated and would need to be razed. The site also had severe environmental issues and pollution from the Gro-Mor facility.
Furthermore, the area’s use for industrial purposes no longer made sense.
“There were a lot of speed bumps,” Lott says. “Stock Lumber had been there for many decades, and it would have been hard to find another lumber company to buy that.
“So, we decided we could go in and buy the buildings — with the goal of redeveloping the area to bring back jobs and complement downtown,” he says.
Midtown is funded primarily by the Community Redevelopment Agency, an entity created in 1981 specifically for city revitalization. In the past five years, the city spent $4.75 million on the demolition of businesses, such as Gro-Mor and Stock Lumber, and to purchase parcels. The city also designated $1.6 million to clean up pollution from Gro-Mor.
“What was there was a series of deteriorated buildings that did not serve the city well,” City Manager Greg Horwedel says.
Lott says those efforts, combined with Plant City’s close proximity to Interstate 4, the Wheeler Street realignment and the green-space development, should make Midtown an attractive project for developers.
“All roads and wastewater are done,” he says. “All environmental issues are cleared. This is a clean piece of property, and really, if we get someone with the right vision, they could be breaking ground 30 days after approval.”
Horwedel says a more likely scenario is a slower process that will be determined largely by the economy.
“They may not break ground until 2014 or 2015,” he says. “It will depend on what the market will bear.”
But one thing is for certain: Whatever Midtown becomes, it promises to be an improvement over what exists today.
THE VISION
Midtown calls for a mixed-use development similar to what has been done in the downtown districts in Lakeland, St. Petersburg and Sarasota.
David Sollenberger, who was the city manager when the Midtown plan first started, and Horwedel, then assistant city manager, both spent time developing downtown Sarasota.
“When I first started in Sarasota, you could fire a cannonball down the street without hitting anyone or any cars,” Horwedel told the Plant City Observer in July. “Now, people complain that they can’t even find parking. That is a hallmark of success — when you start having parking problems.”
Lott cautions against jumping at the first plan presented.
“It has to last for many decades,” he says. “It has to be able to be sustainable, so that if the first business closes, others can come in and make it work.”
Furthermore, Midtown’s residential component is key. Both Lott and Horwedel say condo-style, maintenance-free residences are lacking in Plant City and fit perfectly within their vision of Midtown.
“We have to have people living there,” Lott says. “Look at downtown St. Pete. You can live, work and entertain yourselves — all within walking distance.”
City leaders always anticipated the Midtown project to be a 10-year marathon. Now six years in, Horwedel says it is important to stay committed to the vision.
“The biggest enemy of redevelopment is time,” he says. “Commissioners change over time, and you run the danger of losing that commitment you had.
“Twenty years from now, I hope people look back at this and say the people who were doing this did it right and created the synergy we needed,” Horwedel says.