Advertisement

Dunedin Gateway development project to move forward

 
Preliminary architectural renderings from Pizzuti Builders of Dunedin’s Gateway project, dormant for seven years, show a mixed-use complex.
Preliminary architectural renderings from Pizzuti Builders of Dunedin’s Gateway project, dormant for seven years, show a mixed-use complex.
Published May 7, 2015

DUNEDIN — At the eastern edge of a lively downtown, across the street from Mease Dunedin Hospital, there's a huge vacant lot that has been empty for years.

It's 4 acres of grass and sand, but it's not a park. It's the site of the long-delayed Gateway project, a continually stalled effort to bring apartments and retail to the east end of Main Street.

Now the developer in charge of the dormant project has brought in some new partners. And that's why officials think the Gateway complex will finally get off the ground.

"They're going to be moving on this fairly quickly," said Dunedin economic development director Bob Ironsmith, "and we're going to be pushing them to move forward quickly."

The high-end three-story project is to include 120 apartments atop 15,000 square feet of shops and restaurants. The high-visibility parcel of land is at Main Street and Milwaukee Avenue.

The project was stalled for seven years while the developer, an Ohio firm called Pizzuti Builders, struggled to find commercial and medical office tenants. Then Pizzuti changed its plans and quadrupled the project's residential component to meet market conditions. But even then, it had trouble getting banks to finance construction.

Last summer the company asked Dunedin for an extension so it could recruit a local development partner to contribute some equity and to persuade lenders the project would succeed. Now it has partners — Voeller Construction of Palm Harbor, and the Wright Group of Philadelphia.

"We want to do something that's very special," Bill Voeller, president of Voeller Construction, recently told Dunedin city commissioners. "This is the gateway to Dunedin. This has got to be very cool."

So when will construction crews actually break ground? That remains to be seen.

Later this month, Dunedin commissioners are to ratify an updated agreement between the city and the developers. The proposed agreement will require that construction work start within 30 days after the builders get all the necessary permits.

"It could take two years to get permits, or it could take six months to get permits, right?" asked Mayor Julie Ward Bujalski, who wondered whether the city could require a more definitive time frame. "As you know, this project has been going on for a very, very, very long time."

But City Manager Rob DiSpirito cautioned that there was no way of predicting how long it might take to get permits from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

"There are some things we don't control," he said.

In any case, officials say they're pleased that the development team is sticking with the project. They're eager to see a mix of residential and retail development at the long-empty site to add foot traffic to the east end of downtown.

Keep up with Tampa Bay’s top headlines

Subscribe to our free DayStarter newsletter

We’ll deliver the latest news and information you need to know every morning.

You’re all signed up!

Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Explore all your options

"We're really excited," Commissioner Bruce Livingston said. "You guys have cleared the big hurdle."

Contact Mike Brassfield at brassfield@tampabay.com or (727) 445-4151. Follow @MikeBrassfield.