City should seek more bids on Jack Russell Stadium site
Published October 27, 2004
Disappointed members of a city selection committee have turned thumbs down to two proposals for redevelopment of Jack Russell Stadium. Little wonder. Not only did the two plans not measure up to the optimistic hopes that the community has for the stadium site, they each had problems apparent to those who examined them.
The old stadium, now nearly 50 years old, used to be the spring training home of the Philadelphia Phillies. However, now that the Phillies are playing in the new and much superior Bright House Networks Field on the east side of town, the city must figure out what to do with the Jack Russell property.
The 16-acre property is in North Greenwood, a traditionally African-American neighborhood near downtown Clearwater. The stadium was the centerpiece of the area for 50 years and, most importantly, drew people of all races and socioeconomic levels into North Greenwood - people united by the pleasure of baseball.
North Greenwood residents have said they want whatever replaces the stadium to have benefits for the neighborhood while also drawing others into North Greenwood and helping the neighborhood continue to improve.
Among the ideas floated: a grocery store; a shopping center with retail shops that area residents would use; quality housing; clean industry that would provide needed jobs for area residents.
The city listened to residents' ideas and put out a request for proposals from developers. Only two proposals made it to the review process.
One, by the Housing Trust Group of Miami, called for 192 apartments in the center of the property, ringed by 58 townhomes that would sell for around $140,000. The apartments would qualify as "affordable," with rents from $630 to $730 a month - well under market rents. The plan also called for 20,000 square feet of small retail or office spaces and a small public park. The developer would buy the site from the city for $2.8-million.
The other proposal, a local one offered by the Grubb & Ellis real estate firm and Biltmore Construction, would create a 200,000-square-foot business park on the site.
In an unusual twist, the individual businesses that located in the park would have to buy their own sites from the city. The developers would merely build the spaces and recruit would-be owners. The plan also provided for a small amount of classroom space for St. Petersburg College.
The Housing Trust proposal is the more attractive of the two, but residents and selection committee members were rightly concerned about concentrating so many affordable apartments in a neighborhood that has lots of low-cost housing already and is trying to pull itself up.
The proposal also offered neither the grocery that residents would so like to see nor the high-tech, well-paying jobs they need.
The Grubb & Ellis proposal offered no assurance of the kinds of jobs residents want, was vague about how the finished business park would look and left the city on the hook if individual business spaces didn't sell.
The result of this monthslong process has been disappointing for everyone, including city officials. Rejection by the selection committee does not necessarily mean the proposals will be tossed - City Manager Bill Horne will review them now and make a recommendation to the City Council - but Mayor Brian Aungst has raised the possibility of going out for proposals again.
With only two proposals and those so unsatisfactory to the community, the city would be smart to try one more time. The North Greenwood community is clearly more interested in getting a quality development than in rushing to make a selection. And since the original request for proposals went out, the city has had turnover on its economic development team. New faces might offer a new perspective on how to get better results.
This also may be a time for city officials to think outside the box. Could personal, targeted appeals to specific businesses, such as a supermarket chain or a high-tech business, open some doors? Would St. Petersburg College be interested in a project on a portion of the site? Should the city add some more incentives to create more interest in the development community?
North Greenwood may have had its historic struggles, but it also has some advantages. It is close to downtown, has a mix of zoning and land uses, would not likely oppose clean industry as a neighbor, and has a ready and willing workforce. The city should try again.
