Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/348392
EIGHT YEARS AND COUNTING A downtown affordable housing project pro- posed in 2006 will come up for final approval Monday evening after a quasi-judicial public hearing. Sworn testimony and evidence will be used to decide if developer Jessie Biter can expand the 2006 "Alcazar" project by adding another lot and then combining it with the other three he owns for a unified 10-story complex on the north side of Second Street at the corner of Central Avenue. The Planning Board approved the unifica- tion of the parcels on a 3-1 vote with member Chris Gallagher recusing himself for con- flict of interest. The concept at one point befuddled the city planning and zoning staff, because Biter did not want to waste money to create detailed plans if staff was going to torpedo the unification proposal. "How can we decide something with no plans?" asked one city staff member. But building review staff signed off on the project as did the Planning Board. The pro- posal is unusual because the bulk of it (the original three lots) was permitted under the Downtown Residential Overlay District, which granted a fourfold increase in density to 168 residential units. The original devel- oper, Leonard Garner, called his building "The Alcazar." He planned it as an affordable hous- ing project, with rents of $1.33 per square foot. That worked out to $532 for a 400-square-foot studio and $1,296 for a two-bedroom/two bath unit in a brand new building in the middle of downtown when property values were at their peak, just before the real estate implosion. As a matter of historical interest, Commissioner Snyder was then Vice Chairman Snyder on Chief Bernadette DiPino began work in the city on Dec. 31, 2012. Photo by Norman Schimmel Sarasota News Leader July 18, 2014 Page 33