Two downtown city blocks on the hem of Cascades Park could have apartments, townhouses, a restaurant, a five-story hotel and room for commercial businesses and office space.
Developer Shawn McIntyre, a partner and senior vice president of North American Properties, has already redrawn the Gaines Street landscape with four student housing projects. An early conceptual master plan details his vision for a new catalytic project. He is the only respondent to the Community Redevelopment Agency’s second go-round for proposals after the first request netted no bites.
The downtown plan calls for the sale and redevelopment of the Firestone and Bloxham Annex buildings. If approved, this would be the first park-amenity redevelopment in Tallahassee’s downtown and, with an estimated $158 million price tag, the largest CRA project for downtown.
“This project has many components that you wouldn’t typically find in one project,” CRA Executive Director Roxanne Manning said. “We wanted someone who could come in and preserve the buildings, if possible, and come up with a use for them that could work.”
The CRA’s request for proposals included a lofty punch list: Reuse of historic buildings, including the original Leon County Jail, maximize topography with scenic views of the park and downtown, incorporate tree preservation, meet architectural guidelines, and mix commercial, residential, cultural and entertainment spaces.
The project also requires an urban planned unit development agreement that’s a zoning process giving the developer some flexibility to come up with a creative project for the area. It also provides more certainty on how it will be built, look and function.
The Meridian Point Plaza would be the epicenter for activity. Redevelopment would first take place at the Firestone Building, followed by the Bloxham building. People could be living in the 300 units of one- and two-bedroom flats and studio apartments in about three years, along with 64 units for two- to three-bedroom brownstone townhouses with stairway stoops leading to the sidewalk.
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