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Editorial: Clear St. Petersburg block for redevelopment

 
A combination of long-term leases and unusable buildings has left an ugly wasteland in the center of vibrant St. Petersburg.
A combination of long-term leases and unusable buildings has left an ugly wasteland in the center of vibrant St. Petersburg.
Published Feb. 26, 2016

With its vacant buildings and crumbling parking garage, an entire block in the heart of downtown St. Petersburg is an ugly wasteland in a vibrant urban core of restaurants, shops and apartments. The groups that control the block finally have reached an agreement that will free this prime location to be sold and redeveloped if the buildings are demolished. Preservationists want at least one of the buildings to be saved, but their argument is not compelling and the city should allow the block to be cleared so a new vision for a signature block can be pursued.

In earlier eras, the 400 block of Central Avenue was a focal point for downtown. The buildings still standing included a theater, a hotel and a bank in the 1920s. More than 50 years ago, they were substantially altered, wrapped in metal grating and used as banks and offices. Now the buildings have been vacant for nearly a decade, and the block has been locked in a time warp by a complicated ownership situation and a long-term land lease that scares away potential developers. A California real estate investment trust that owns most of the block is stuck with leases that pay the descendants of the Pheil family $700,000 a year and run until 2058. The combination of the leases and unusable buildings leaves a scar in the center of a rejuvenated downtown.

Last month, the real estate investment trust and the Pheil family — descendants of Abram C. Pheil, who served as St. Petersburg mayor in 1912 — announced an agreement that would unlock the block's potential. The trust will pay the family $10 million, demolish the buildings and give the Pheils the trust's 70 percent ownership of the block. The Pheil family will terminate its leases when the buildings are torn down and intends to sell the entire block. The city requires approved site plans and building permit applications before downtown buildings can be demolished, but the staff has found these owners meet exemptions to allow these buildings to be razed. Mayor Rick Kriseman, the St. Petersburg Downtown Neighborhood Association and the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership support the plan to clear the way for redevelopment.

Yet St. Petersburg Preservation, which advocates saving historic buildings, sees something others don't. It wants at least the five-story former bank building at the corner of Central Avenue and Fourth Street South to be preserved, and it has appealed the city staff's decision to the Development Review Commission. If the commission on Wednesday affirms the staff's decision to allow all of the buildings to be razed, the preservationists intend to appeal to the City Council.

As St. Petersburg Preservation vice president Peter Belmont notes, St. Petersburg's economic successes can be attributed in part to a "magic mix" of new development and the renovation of historic buildings such as the Vinoy Hotel and the Snell Arcade. Storefronts along the 600 block of Central Avenue that had been set for demolition before the economic recession have been preserved and are filled. Portions of another long-closed bank building along Central Avenue will be incorporated into a new development. The preservation of worthy historic buildings gives St. Petersburg character and distinguishes it from cookie-cutter cities with anonymous glass towers.

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But there is a stronger case to demolish these buildings and allow the deal to go forward than to insist on saving them and risk more decades of blight. The landowners have persuasive reports from consultants and appraisers that find the land is worth more cleared and that the cost of renovating the buildings to today's standards would make it difficult to make any profit. They say it would be unfeasible to save only the former bank building, which has been linked to the adjoining 11-story building. They also disagree with the preservationists over the condition of the exterior of the smaller building, which now appears unremarkable and has been damaged by bolts supporting the 1960s metal grating. Add to those issues the complicated ownership, the long-term leases and the economic recovery that make this agreement possible, and it's clear this is an opportunity that should not be squandered.

The preservation of historic buildings is a laudable goal that St. Petersburg and other cities should continue to pursue to preserve their identity and remain connected to the past. But every old building is not historic, and there are economic realities to consider. This is a chance to clear a blighted downtown block and open the door to a signature development. The city should allow the demolition of the vacant buildings and move forward rather than risk being stuck any longer with an eyesore.