Bradenton Herald: Effort to Redevelop Bradenton’s 14th Street West Project Recommended to Continue
This article was originally published by the Bradenton Herald (April 5, 2016).
BRADENTON — The Bradenton Downtown Develop Authority will recommend the Bradenton City Council, acting as the Community Redevelopment Agency, continue to work with Sarasota-based Beneficial Communities to redevelop the old Manatee Inns site on 14th Street West into an 80-unit live-and-work community.
The council will hear from Beneficial next week before making a decision.
Beneficial has failed to get tax credits through the Florida Housing Assistance for the affordable housing project, but the company isn’t willing to give up just yet.
The tax credit application is a very competitive process and it’s not uncommon for developers to even compete against themselves by submitting multiple projects. Beneficial is no exception. According to the FHA website, WOB Beneficial Development 16 LLC submitted tax credit applications for seven other projects besides the Manatee Inns site, dubbed Village Lofts. They include two projects in Pasco County, two in Volusia County, and additional projects in Sarasota, Escambia, Monroe and Hernando counties.
The Manatee Inns site also was competing with five other Manatee County projects, including the Bradenton Housing Authority’s attempt to redevelop its oldest public housing units in the Sugg Development. A resubmittal in October will likely pit the Manatee Inns site against many of the same projects vying for tax credits.
One more could be added to that list as the Central Community Redevelopment Agency plans to submit an application through North Star Development to redevelop the Love Apartments and the Martin Luther King Jr. mixed-use project.
Still, Beneficial developer Ken Bowron Jr. and Beneficial attorney Casey Colburn said, the Manatee Inns site is getting its share of focus. Bowron said this week Beneficial has “worked really hard” and wants the city to give them another chance to obtain the tax credits. Bowron said the most viable success route is the tax credit process, “but in order to do so, we will need a year extension.”
