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Hanna Avenue Project Back On City Council Agenda For March 3, 2022
BY MONIQUE STAMPS Sentinel Staff Writer
There are ambitious plans for the new City Center at Hanna Avenue. However, recent concerns brought by residents and minority con- struction companies have left big questions on the table. Next Thurs- day, the City Council will try to al- leviate concerns about the project so far.
When the project was originally proposed, it was heralded as the biggest city building project in many years. It was a path to eco- nomic growth in East Tampa, one of the most economically depressed areas in the city. Over the past few months, equity concerns over bid- ding and apprenticeship actions have raised concerns over the pro- ject’s adherence to the city’s own rules.
In addition, concerns about the coordination of traffic and the im- pact of bringing five hundred new employees into the area every morning and afternoon has some citizens worried about traffic jams and crowded streets.
The $108 million project will re- locate a large number of city serv- ices to a large property at 2515 E. Hanna Ave. Originally, a plan to re- locate the police department to the 11-acre site was scrapped. How- ever, there will still be hundreds of workers at the new site. Residents are concerned that plans to incor- porate these new workers in the neighborhood have not addressed the problem.
Last Thursday, February 17, 2022, the Council voted for staff to report back on the first of these concerns, namely the selection of the general contractor, DPR Con- struction. An additional item to be investigated was the city ordinance requiring large construction proj- ects to hire apprentices.
As early as December 16, 2021, the owner of minority owned Horus Construction accused the project of not following the regular bidding process. The President, Jonathan Graham, told the council that everyone was not given an op- portunity to bid, and it was given to DPR, a multi-national construction
Hanna Avenue Project Concerns Minority Builders and Neigh- borhood Residents.
Black community and whether proper procedures had been fol- lowed.
“It’s beyond concerning,” said Stanley Gray, president of the Tampa Hillsborough Urban League, during public comment.
City Council Chairman Or- lando Gudes is looking for an- swers at Thursday’s meeting. “We received a lot of feedback at the last meeting that raised questions on whether the project is following the law concerning minority participa- tion. We have to make sure that all laws were followed and all of the hard work we’ve put in is working for the people of Tampa.”
The meeting will take place on March 3, 2022.
To express an opinion, go to https://www.tampa.gov/city-coun- cil-meeting-public-comment-form. For general information, contact the Office of the City Clerk, Old City Hall, 315 E. Kennedy Blvd., Third Floor, Tampa, Florida 33602 – Telephone No. (813) 274-8397 – Fax No. (813) 274-8306 – E-Mail Address: ctyclerk@tampagov.net.
firm.
The city states that DPR was en-
gaged to design the project, but the first plan was not funded. When funding became available, there was a time-crunch that made stay- ing with DPR a logical choice.
The reporting requested by the City Council is intended to provide more information on the bidding process and apprenticeship pro- grams.
City officials say that by the time
they got financing for the site, they could not wait another 6 months to allow for additional bids because the leases on present buildings were expiring. Brad Baird, the Deputy Administrator of Infra- structure for Tampa stated that let- ting DPR continue as the design-build team was legal under state law.
During public comment, many Black leaders expressed concerns about the lack of outreach to the
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