Oct 14, 2005

Bulldozers Move In On Working Class Haven

Photo by: CRYSTAL L. LAUDERDALE The Westshore Yacht Club luxury community is one of several developments changing the face of the formerly working-class area south of Gandy Boulevard.

TAMPA - -- The Westshore Yacht Club, under construction, promises breathtaking sunsets over Old Tampa Bay.

The views from the other side of the 75-acre gated community aren't so luxurious. There's a coin laundry, a convenience store and rows of modest concrete block homes.

To spruce it up, the developer bought and tore down two of the houses. A decorative wall will take their place before the first residents arrive in December.

More change is on the way for this longtime working class haven of south Tampa, and when the bulldozers stop rolling, the area's housing stock and character may be dramatically changed -- for better or worse depending on to whom you talk.

There are at least four major residential and marina projects planned or under way along West Shore Boulevard, in a historically industrial area south of Gandy Boulevard. The neighborhood has a median sales price of $152,000 and is home to some of south Tampa's last affordable houses. But with prices of the new homes topping $3 million, all that could change.

Gandy long has been considered the dividing line between prestigious, trendy south Tampa and the working class neighborhoods south of the major thoroughfare. West Shore offers miles of waterfront property, but most of it is filled with industry and rental apartments.

As developers discover the prime property, shipyards have shut down and old warehouses and mobile home parks are being bulldozed. Longtime residents wonder how long it will take before their homes no longer fit in. They also question whether the roads and sewer systems will be able to handle the crush of new residents.

"Over time, it will be a knock-down neighborhood; that's real estate 101," Bruce Erhardt, of the real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield, said of the existing homes. "The area is going to be a huge boating community."

Already, zoning requests pour in to city hall from people wanting to demolish two homes and build bigger ones stretched across both lots.

Residents such as 70-year-old Al Steenson are worried.

"City council makes these decisions with blinders on, without regard to the past and what's to come in the future," said Steenson, who has lived in the neighborhood for 25 years. "One day, they're going to look around and ask, "What happened? Everything changed.' "

Steenson, a past president of the Gandy Civic Association, said most residents aren't against change, but think too much of it is coming to the neighborhood too quickly.

He worries about gridlock, flooding and losing affordable housing. He questions whether there will be land for schools and grocery stores. "You can't build on every available piece of property south of Gandy. That's not the answer."

Many of the homes directly south of Gandy Boulevard were built in the 1940s and 1950s and became home to employees of MacDill Air Force Base. There are a lot of retired military workers, Steenson said, and many don't want to move, no matter how high their property values go.

"Their last trip out of their homes will be on a gurney to the funeral home," Steenson said.

Balancing development with the need to preserve history will be tough, said City Councilman John Dingfelder, whose district includes south Tampa.

"I think it's important that we keep the neighborhoods intact," he said, noting the development will be a major boost to the city's tax base. "Eventually, you'll see knock downs, but it should stay single-family detached."

Steve Danco, project manager of the Westshore Yacht Club, said that's fine with him. The gated complex of 537 homes will be an improvement to the area, he said.

The development is on the site of the former Westinghouse factory, where submarine engines were built. The building had been vacant for six years before the developer, WCI Communities Inc., purchased it.

The development plan includes three condo towers, town homes and single-family homes, priced from $523,990 to $3.8 million. The private marina will include 149 boat slips.

"We're benefiting the neighborhood by replacing an abandoned building with something beautiful and giving the neighborhood more residential uses," Danco said.

The second largest development planned is New Port Tampa Bay, a 52-acre community of condominiums, retail, restaurants and a marina of 225 slips. Homes are priced at $300,000 to more than $2 million.

It is replacing the Hendry Corp. shipyard, which came to south Tampa in 1943. Ed Oelschlaeger, president of Eco Group Inc, the developer, said the project will benefit the community because it will enable the public to enjoy the waterfront.

"It will become a public meeting place," he said.

Still, he admits that sleepy, modest neighborhoods already there will change.

"The communities going in are upscale, so the character of the overall area will change," Oelschlaeger said.

The redevelopment of West Shore's waterfront doesn't stop at Gandy. The 162-acre Georgetown Apartments and the 25-acre Cove apartments were recently purchased with plans to eventually build homes or condominiums.

When all the new residents, estimated at several thousand, move in, there will be traffic problems, said Roy LaMotte, the city's transportation chief.

West Shore, south of Gandy, was recently widened, and a traffic study is being conducted of the whole street, he said. Some developers, as part of their rezoning agreements, are adding turn lanes and donating parts of their property to be used as city retention ponds.

But can the area absorb all these expensive homes?

The hot real estate market has showed few signs of slowing locally. Sales prices continue to creep up, and developers continue to build. But as interest rates rise and building costs skyrocket, the housing boom faces threats.

"The market is kind of taking a breather right now to see if we can absorb more," said Bill Eshenbaugh, president of Tampa-based Eshenbaugh Land Co.

Over time, though, the new homes will be filled with people -- and more will come, Erhardt said.

"I predict all of the industry will be gone in 10 years," he said. "You won't recognize the place."