This blog is intended to focus on the residential and commercial real estate developments taking place in the Ybor City National Historic Landmark District. The Blog is maintained by Kevin Stuteville of Costantino & Company, Ybor City, Florida.
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Ybor hotel approved, but garage rejected
YBOR CITY - Developers got approval Tuesday to convert the historic Oliva Cigar Factory to a hotel. But a crucial element of their plan didn't make it past the Barrio Latino Commission, which maintains the architectural integrity of historic buildings.
Commissioners called the 45-foot-high hotel plans a "slam dunk" but objected to an adjacent 43-foot-tall robotic parking structure that would hold 24 cars.
The garage would tower over Ybor City Museum-owned casitas on the rest of the 2000 block of N 19th St.
Commissioners didn't think an accessory structure should be almost as tall as a main building and said the only accessory structures that have existed in historic Ybor are outhouses, water towers and small sheds.
A robotic garage that tall would disrupt the historic rhythm of the block, they said.
City rules dictate that the hotel must provide 62 parking spaces. Last month, the commission told developers they could have 25 of those spaces in nearby lots, running distance for valet drivers.
In existing plans, there is room for one row of spaces, with most of the cars stowed in the robotic garage.
Without the garage, on-site parking is a major problem, said developer Steve Yturriaga of Ybor Realty.
"It comes down to financing; it comes down to the feasibility of the project," Yturriaga said.
"If we were not to get the approval of the parking structure, I don't think this project could move forward."
As discussion progressed, it seemed that most commissioners favored the hotel but not the garage.
Developers made a last-minute appeal to remove the garage plans from the equation so the hotel would pass.
Commissioners unanimously approved the 59-room, three-story hotel.
The parking plans remain in limbo. A revamped proposal will return to the commission at a date not yet scheduled.
YBOR CITY - Developers got approval Tuesday to convert the historic Oliva Cigar Factory to a hotel. But a crucial element of their plan didn't make it past the Barrio Latino Commission, which maintains the architectural integrity of historic buildings.
Commissioners called the 45-foot-high hotel plans a "slam dunk" but objected to an adjacent 43-foot-tall robotic parking structure that would hold 24 cars.
The garage would tower over Ybor City Museum-owned casitas on the rest of the 2000 block of N 19th St.
Commissioners didn't think an accessory structure should be almost as tall as a main building and said the only accessory structures that have existed in historic Ybor are outhouses, water towers and small sheds.
A robotic garage that tall would disrupt the historic rhythm of the block, they said.
City rules dictate that the hotel must provide 62 parking spaces. Last month, the commission told developers they could have 25 of those spaces in nearby lots, running distance for valet drivers.
In existing plans, there is room for one row of spaces, with most of the cars stowed in the robotic garage.
Without the garage, on-site parking is a major problem, said developer Steve Yturriaga of Ybor Realty.
"It comes down to financing; it comes down to the feasibility of the project," Yturriaga said.
"If we were not to get the approval of the parking structure, I don't think this project could move forward."
As discussion progressed, it seemed that most commissioners favored the hotel but not the garage.
Developers made a last-minute appeal to remove the garage plans from the equation so the hotel would pass.
Commissioners unanimously approved the 59-room, three-story hotel.
The parking plans remain in limbo. A revamped proposal will return to the commission at a date not yet scheduled.
posted by yborhomes at 11:22 AM
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