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Local
Deal Falls Apart To Redevelop Historic Kress Building
In 1911, the J. J. Newberry Store on the corner of Franklin Street and Cass was founded. In 1929, the S. H. Kress Building was con- structed adjacent to the New- berry building, and later the F.W. Woolworth Store came along.
All three stores repre- sented the era of the five-and- dime stores, and even though segregation limited access to all three stores in certain areas, they were popular shopping spots.
With the creation of shop- ping malls and stores like K- Mart, Wal-Mart and others, J. J. Newberry, Kress, and Woolworth soon closed for- ever. However, the three empty buildings remained a part of Tampa’s downtown landscape.
After decades of sitting empty, in 2014, Mayor Bob Buckhorn announced that a 22-story tower had been planned using the Kress building that would feature a hotel and apartments.
A group of developers and Tampa real estate veterans teamed up with an Atlanta hotel developer to redevelop the five-story Kress building. Tampa Developer Jean- nette Jason, who owns the building with her father,
This is an artist rendering of what the project would look like, minus the 22-story hotel.
1929 look at the old Kress Building.
Miami-based broker Doran Jason, were to be involved in the redevelopment project without any specifics being released on the structure of the deal.
Last Thursday, it was an- nounced that the deal to de- velop the Kress Building fell apart. Jason said her group is no longer under contract with a group of Tampa devel- opers and Atlanta-based HRV Ventures.
Jason said she and her father are considering co-list- ing the property with a na- tional brokerage firm.
The Kress Building, along with the F.W. Woolworth building, were scenes of
protests in 1960 against seg- regation.
On February 29, 1960, Clarence Fort, who was the President of the NAACP Youth Council along with Rev. A. Leon Lowry, led 50 students from Blake and Mid- dleton High Schools in a sit- in at Woolworth’s lunch counter.
City of Tampa Economic Opportunity Administrator, Bob McDonaugh, said the project isn’t over yet.
“It’s a historic building and that complicates the process. The deal fell through because the contract had ex- pired before the developers could close on the deal. They
THE KRESS BUILDING
ran out of time trying to get all of their ducks in a row.”
McDonaugh said when you’re dealing with historic structures the process can be very lengthy.
“The owners are actively
marketing the building and there has been some interest. “We are confident a deal will get done, but it may not be the same concept as the original developers had for
the three buildings.”
FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 7-A