As the Board is aware, the Community Redevelopment Agency (the “Agency”) offers a Commercial Real Estate Redevelopment Grant Program (the “Program”) in order to support qualifying private redevelopment projects that effectuate the Community Redevelopment Plan.  The Program sets forth several notable eligibility requirements, including:

• Targeted project location of the Downtown, Marine District, or Highway 19 Corridor.
• Minimum investment of $500,000.
• Specific outcomes:
  •  Purchase and/or significant upgrade of commercial properties.
  •  Improvements to the leasehold space…so the building can be prepared for multiple tenants and/or an anchor tenant.
  •  Redesign of the building façade and exterior grounds…
  •  Jobs creation and business growth…

The Program caps grant awards at 20 percent of the total verified investment; and awards are subject to Board approval and limited by the amount of funding made available in the Agency’s Adopted Annual Budget.

As the Board is also aware, in late 2019, Missouri Grand, LLC, led by Authorized Manager, Member, Frank Starkey, acquired the building and property located at 6220 Grand Boulevard and proceeded to carry out a comprehensive redevelopment project, which was substantially completed in 2023.  The redevelopment project transformed the building inside and out, dramatically upgrading its architecture and converting what had been a second-floor mezzanine into a full floor of modern office space. 

Today, the ground floor is home to the Estuary, “a contemporary, Chef-driven” restaurant, which has already won a rave review from the Tampa Bay Times, and the second floor is being actively marketed as a potential location for a professional services firm (engineering, architecture, planning, CPA, etc.) or executive suites by Commercial Asset Partners. 

Mr. Starkey has been communicating with Agency staff regarding this redevelopment project since its inception and had submitted a Program application to a previous Economic Development Director.  On January 19, 2024, Mr. Starkey submitted a revised Program application with a corresponding funding request of $213,240, approximately 12 percent of the applicant’s total investment in eligible expenses.  Please see the attached letter.

Agency staff finds the application consistent with the parameters of the Program and past approvals granted by the Agency.  In considering the application, staff noted several positive outcomes associated with the redevelopment project, including:

• It was a major investment in our community that satisfies all four specific outcomes targeted by the Program.  All-in, the property owner has invested over $2.3 million.
• It breathed new life into an old building, showcasing and exemplifying important architectural, planning, and design principles we should want to see emulated elsewhere, including:
  
  • Mixed use (vertical, housed in the same building).
  • Active ground floor use. (This is a big part of what makes Downtown a place that people want to be.  Downtown is a big part of what makes NPR a place that people want to be.)
  • Office or residential use above active ground floor use, not on the ground floor.
  • Outdoor dining.
  • Increase in window glass on the ground floor.  (As food for thought, please know that some downtowns have a minimum amount of window glass to encourage placemaking, such as 25 percent of total front elevation area, and that some experts recommend 65 to 75 percent of the area at eye level.)
  • Proper depth of awnings.  (Please note how they are deep enough to provide pedestrians with shelter from sun and rain.  Ideally, a downtown should have continuous awning and/or arcade coverage.)
  • Enhanced architectural details on the exterior elevations.

• It created 3,850 SF of new office space, which will likely house at least 12 employees and help our economic development efforts.  A preliminary estimate suggests that a second floor occupied by a professional services firm would generate an annual local economic impact of over $2.5 million.
• The Estuary has already garnered positive reviews and press which helps make the City and Downtown a place people want to go, marketing and advertising Downtown without the City or other businesses having to pay for it (“earned media”).  Please see the attached article. 

In closing, staff believes it is important to note that grant payments would only be made after the verification of applicant expenditures on eligible expenses and that this application is for less than the Program maximum of 20 percent.