NEW PORT RICHEY — The city will begin negotiating with well-known developer Frank Starkey to build upscale apartments on a key piece of downtown property the city bought more than a decade ago.
During a meeting Tuesday night, the New Port Richey Community Redevelopment Agency, composed of members of the City Council, voted unanimously to allow city staffers to begin negotiating a development agreement with Starkey’s People Places LLC.
Starkey has proposed to build about 86 one- and-two-bedroom apartments on the 2.26 acres, site of the former First Baptist Church on Circle Boulevard, across from the city’s popular Orange Lake and Sims Park. The CRA bought the property in 2005 for $3.1 million, but it remains vacant after several development proposals failed to materialize.