Category: Tampa Bay

By all accounts, the Shriners’ convention, Tampa’s largest, came off well. And well it should have. It was a holiday; event venues were dispersed; the visitors were folksy and well received; and the Tampa Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau had five years from the booking date to do its scouting and planning.

“We knew this group; we had great communication with the client; and we knew what to expect,” says Karen Brand, TBCVB spokesperson. “A very straightforward convention. This went exactly as expected.”

For those who think that a high-profile gathering that brought in about 20,000 visitors is a barometer of how Tampa might fare if it lands the Republican National Convention in 2008, Brand says think again.

“Everyone wanted to make this a litmus test,” notes Brand. “But the two events are completely dissimilar. Logistics, security, everything.

“What is relevant, however,” points out Brand, “is the impact on other large national associations. They all watch their peers and where they go. This convention allows us to get on the radar screens of other major meeting-planner clients.”

It certainly won’t hurt if they talk to Michael Andrews, executive vice president of The Shriners of North America.

In a letter to the TBCVB, Andrews gushed: “

Every 4th of July, alas, we are reminded that Florida remains a retrograde state when it comes to fireworks. Yahooville sham laws permit the sale to anyone of anything China sends us that explodes. To paraphrase Marshall McLuhan, noise is the medium and seemingly the message – as opposed to a celebration of the birth of a noble experiment, a memorialization of Fort McHenry or a salute to communal spirit.

And anyone else notice the pet-frightening staccato sounds and shrill whistles of the Fourth beginning Friday night, June 30th?

All things being equal – which they rarely are – would the Tampa Bay Area be better off with a governor from here? Political consultant and USF history professor John Belohlavek cautions about jumping on that parochial bandwagon. For all of our regional rhetoric, notes Belohlavek, this still remains an area rife with “divided loyalties.”

“Frankly, for the folks in Tampa, I’m not sure that Charlie Crist would help a lot,” says Belohlavek. “And I don’t know what a Gov. Jim Davis would do for St. Pete. What I do think is more meaningful are those areas the region shares, such as resources – power and water. That might make a difference.”

Makes sense. You also have to believe that Mayor Pam Iorio would like her Riverwalk chances if the veto pen were in the hands of a Gov. Davis.

It’s all enough to hearken back to 1986 and the gubernatorial campaign of Tampa’s Bob Martinez. The candidate’s campaign manager, the blunt, hard-charging Mac Stipanovich, was asked (by me): “What’s it worth to Tampa to have one of its own in the Governor’s Mansion?”

“Let’s just say that when you call,” responded Stipanovich with an accompanying wink, “it helps if the governor knows the caller.” For those who know Stipanovich, you know that was about as subtle as he gets.

It was only fitting that Mayor Pam Iorio was the keynote speaker at last week’s 20th anniversary Tampa Downtown Partnership meeting and luncheon. With a city-core visual aid and a pointer, she was preaching to the choir on her favorite boilerplate subject: the changing face — and focus — of downtown Tampa. Some asides:

*”Over the next 5 to 6 years” a virtual “city within a city” will come on line in the downtown core and Channelside. Upwards of 8,000 living units and 17,000 residents are anticipated.

*Would, however, that there were more apartments in the mix.

*The sort of growth now occurring – and now planned – is about 20 years ahead of what had been foreseen by most observers. Certainly not the $2.6 billion in investment interest.

*The Riverwalk will link Tampa Heights to Channelside, but the “key to our civic space” is Curtis Hixon Park.

*Ultimately, the city expects to have about “300 major events along the Riverwalk each year.”

*Iorio gave former Mayor Dick Greco his props for projects started under his administration, including the purchase of land parcels adjacent to the Riverwalk.

Notably, not even the Pamglossian mayor could wax effusive about the blight stuff that is Central Park Village redevelopment. “I’ll skip over that for now,” quipped Iorio. It was intended to be – and succeeded as – a bittersweet laugh line.

The squalid, northeast gateway to downtown has been hostage to a dysfunctional city-county dynamic, as well as Hillsborough County Commission grandstanding over a special taxing district. Most recently the commission – spearheaded by Commissioner Tom Scott – has demanded, among other last-minute requirements of city council, changes in the makeup of the city Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) board. The CRA issue remains a point of contention pending the commission’s final vote June 21.

The sobering reality is that the further removed Central Park Village redevelopment gets from the large-scale Civitas project that the commission sandbagged in 2004, the more like “public housing” it’s likely to be. And the more parochial dithering there is, the more Bank of America, the key private investor, has to wonder about its commitment to Tampa’s political ground zero. And the more delays there are, the more construction costs continue to mount.

That’s a lot worth skipping over.

Ironically, the luncheon’s invocation was given by Commissioner Scott. Too bad he didn’t call upon the Deity for some redevelopment enlightenment.

If there’s anything conventional about the wooing of the Republican National Convention to Tampa in September 2008, it’s the sheer predictability that:

*Not everyone will see the Holy Grail of convention coups if Tampa wins out.

*As long as the actor Michael Norton is around to portray Teddy Roosevelt, there can always be a fun video to complement a serious PowerPoint presentation.

*This time Karl Rove won’t be weighing in with patriotic pandering in the form of “Ground Zero” symbolism.

*All those key players who think the GOP “owes us” for opting for New York in ’04 will soldier on and never say so on the record.

*Tampa’s host committee will inevitably find itself in the untenable position of not wanting to talk about a really big piece of public business until evaluations and negotiations with the sotto voce Republican National Committee are over, and the competition with other contending cities (Cleveland, Minneapolis, New York) finalized.

*There will be a blizzard of numbers – from expenses to economic impact.

*There will be arched brows and populist sound bites over the big cost tabs – in this case, an initially estimated $124.4 million. (Approximately two thirds of which — goods and services, rent, employment/staffing — will be spent in the local communities.)

*None of the early numbers will remain the same. Private fundraising will go up.

*There will be political posturing, intrigue and subplots. The color of money isn’t purely bi-partisan green.

*There will be speculation and tea-leaf reading, much of it to no avail.

*There will be an elephant in the living room, but it won’t be the GOP pachyderm. It will be the hurricane season — and the media will be in full, drumbeat-coverage mode during the August site selection visit.

*There will be something more that Jeb Bush could have done.

*Someone in the media will ask why Tampa doesn’t bid on Democratic conventions. (You have to get a Request For Proposal from a party’s national committee before submitting a bid. And it helps to have a coterie of loyalist power brokers and prominent party fundraisers to prompt such RFPs in the first place.)

*Florida Republican finance chairman and host committee chairman Al Austin, the nonpareil GOP fundraiser who’s been a delegate to every Republican convention since 1972, will be prepared to do whatever is necessary to close the deal.

*While Tampa is the would-be host city, the bid was submitted in the name of Tampa-St. Petersburg. Regional players are on board — even the former chairman of the Orlando bid committee. The Tampa-St. Petersburg bid is the de facto Florida bid, with Gov. Jeb Bush as honorary chair. This state hasn’t hosted a national political convention since the GOP visited Miami in 1972.

*After reviewing RFPs from both Democratic and Republican conventions, Orlando eventually passed. It shocked no one. It has an arena that isn’t adequate for the NBA, plus it’s a tourism and convention Mecca with bookings three and four years out. A national political convention could be a net business loss.

*While some have waxed worried, if not apocalyptic, about Tampa’s wherewithal to handle hordes – as in the hundreds of thousands — of demonstrators, host committee chair Austin remains his Republican unruffled self. At a recent media briefing Austin observed that “Some of the numbers you saw about New York were highly inflated

When it opened in 1927, Tampa’s 18-story Floridan Hotel was called the state’s tallest building. For the last two decades, it’s been called many other things — with “eyesore” probably topping any list. The venerable hotel, officially shuttered in 1987, had become a monument to plywood and roosting vultures.

What nobody called the erstwhile 1920s-’40s icon was “love at first sight.” Until, that is, Antonios Markopoulos happened along last April.

“I was fascinated by the (Renaissance Revival) architecture,” recalls Markopoulos. “From the minute I walked in, I felt that the Floridan embraced me. I visualized life again.”

Where others had seen a forlorn symbol of downtown’s decline, Markopoulos envisioned a reincarnation of its hey-day as an opulent destination for the well to do. Where other, ultimately unsuccessful, entrepreneurs had seen scenarios ranging from “affordable housing” to an assisted living facility, the 60-something Greek native saw an upscale, 220-room, boutique hotel with fine dining – topped off with two penthouses.

A lot of paperwork, tax credits and $6 million later, he was the owner-developer. Renovation costs have been estimated between $16 million and $20 million.

The admittedly ambitious goal is to open by the summer of 2007.

The city, the Tampa Downtown Partnership, preservationists and anybody else that cares to see an emblem of urban blight eliminated have been ecstatic over Markopoulos’ restoration plans.

“This is as important psychologically as physically,” assesses Christine Burdick, president of the TDP. “There are no great cities without symbols of their past.”

To Rodney Kite-Powell, the Tampa Bay History Center’s curator, the return of the Floridan validates a key preservation principle: history also means opportunity.

“A successful Floridan project would show that historic preservation can, and does, work as a viable business model,” notes Kite-Powell.

“The Floridan’s reopening as a boutique hotel would further solidify the fact that the north end of downtown will be populated 24 hours a day.”

Markopoulos’ venture underscores a basic, developmental rule of thumb: timing is everything. In the case of the Floridan, the right person at the right time.

First, Markopoulos is flush. In September 2004, he sold the Days Inn on Clearwater Beach for $40 million. He didn’t need financing for the Floridan.

Second, he has experience. He’s been in the hospitality business for 35 years; he knows how to run – and rehab — hotels. He won’t rely on a flag operator. He’s beyond hands-on; he’s literally been in all the Floridan’s crawl spaces and sub-basements.

Third, he hit Tampa just as downtown revitalization was finally materializing. Among projects proximate to the Floridan (at Florida Avenue and Cass Street) are: 975 condominiums as part of the Kress and Woolworth redevelopment; a 450-unit condo tower (including 12,000 square feet of retail) on the old Maas Brothers location; the 20-unit Arlington condominium; the 40-condo Residences of Franklin Street; the 12-condo Carriage House; and the four-unit Franklin Street City Lofts.

“When I was investigating the Floridan,” explains Markopoulos, “it became apparent that restoring it as a center of commercial activity would be a key part of Tampa’s downtown transformation. The Floridan will offer historic lodging for travelers, but more importantly, it will offer future generations insight into our history.”

For those who haven’t been paying attention and never cross Tampa Bay, St. Petersburg has long retired its somnolent “God’s waiting room” label. After fits and starts – including the late, less-than-lamented Bay Plaza effort – to make over its downtown, St. Petersburg found its niche: the arts. Mayor Rick Baker’s acknowledged ambition is for St. Petersburg to become “the cultural center for the state of Florida.”

Hizzoner wasn’t just waxing hyperbolic. St. Pete has a legitimate shot. A critical mass is more than manifest.

A mix of galleries, theaters, antique shops and the eclectic Arts Center complement the Museum of Fine Arts, the Salvador Dali Museum, the rehabbed Mahaffey Theatre, the permanent home for the Florida Orchestra and the planned Dale Chihuly glass gallery and studio. The world class waterfront is its own aesthetic.

The burgeoning arts scene has, in turn, encouraged and enticed an energizing mix of entrepreneurs, developers and visitors. Now it’s only fitting that the arts, a de facto tourist attraction, are being recognized as such. Increases in room nights and restaurant reservations can be quantified when there’s a Monet or Chihuly or Princess Diana exhibition in town.

As a result, Pinellas County’s Tourist Development Council will allot a percentage of the county’s new bed-tax hike – amounting to $750,000 – to specifically help promote museum exhibits. In future fiscal years that amount should increase. Such an earmark, it should be noted, sets a precedent.

It also sets an example of a county targeting a key — albeit non-traditional — asset in its hub market (read: major city) for special promotion. The St. Petersburg museums are bona fide visitor magnets; the Dali, moreover, has ongoing international cachet. And those visitors may also spend time at the beach or Sponge Docks or a mall. It’s in everybody’s vested interest – including a county with two dozen political fiefdoms – to promote any visitor beacon.

Call it the art of cooperation and an ode to common sense. Hopefully, the Hillsborough side of the Bay has taken note – and notes.

It can be argued that Jim Norman, chairman of the Hillsborough County Commission, has been on the wrong side of some issues. A senseless sports complex, the too-long deferred hike in impact fees, uncommunicated plans for hotel room-tax revenues and deference to the wit and wisdom of Ronda Storms come readily to mind.

But it’s only fair to parcel out well-earned plaudits as well. His response during the recent discussion of changes in the county’s public art program was a classic and spot on. The sheriff’s office wanted to waive the public art requirement on the Falkenburg Road Jail expansion.

Norman suggested “razor wire” would be appropriate public art for jails.