The saga of Whitney Beach Plaza
AL GREEN
Contributing Columnist
green@lbknews.com
All of us get frustrated. Some of us blow up when we do. The lucky ones do it in relative privacy and usually make their amends privately. Andrew Hlywa, the recent owner of the Whitney Beach Plaza, unfortunately vented his frustration on the editorial page of the Longboat Key News. I am sure when he calms down, he will realize his outburst was unseemly and mean-spirited. However, done is done, and so are Andrew and his charming companion Dawn diLorenzo with Longboat Key.
However, in an atmosphere where more than one out of five Americans believe Barack Obama is a Muslim, wild charges have a way of sticking, and Hlywa’s diatribe resonates on those who contend that if only Longboat Key wouldn’t have so many regulations, everyone would be making a fortune and there would be no end to the joys of living in paradise.
The facts are a little different. Hlywa is the third owner of the shopping plaza to leave with less than he had when he came. The area and the building itself are about as conducive to good retail business as the west side of Fifth Avenue. Some places just don’t work, and good intentions and even hard work do not change the facts on the ground.
When the plaza’s prior owner was considering his options, he asked me to consult with him and his architect. They asked me what they could do with the property within the rules. My advice was clear, ignore them. I advised them to draw up any plan for the site that made sense economically. It didn’t matter whether it was mixed use or purely commercial. The important point was to keep in mind that it had to be aesthetically pleasing and by doing so, add value to the surrounding area. I told him if it did that, there was no question in my mind that the P&Z and the Town Commission would welcome it with open arms. After doing his arithmetic, he decided there was no plan that would make sense from an investment point of view. Consequently, he sold the property to the unfortunate Hlywa.
At the plaza, Ray LaFlamme had built a mildly successful business with the liquor store but wanted to retire. When he found a buyer, he was told that the rent would go up from $4 a square foot to $7. For comparison purposes, rents on Bradenton Beach at that time were running about $14 a square foot. The buyer ran the figures, cancelled his offer and Ray then simply closed down and left. It is important to realize that even inheriting an established business for nothing and running it without drawing a salary, Andrew and Dawn couldn’t make it work.
It is known by almost everyone who lives or lived in the north end that no two people worked harder to try to make a go of the plaza. It would take two columns to just list all of the different businesses, changes and ideas that were put on the table. Town codes that work very well for the Dry Dock, the Centre Shops and other successful businesses weren’t the reason for the poor results. The place is an eyesore and is just not a good location.
Since it is not only detrimental to the property owner but to all of the real estate in the immediate area, it cannot be allowed to just deteriorate the way much of the rest of the commercial stock in town is doing.
There is one very dramatic thing that could be done that would have an electrifying effect. The canal that currently is a dead end just north of the site could be reconnected with the canal that flows through the Village. Many people do not realize it was this way before Longboat Key was incorporated. Broadway was created by filling in the land and dead-ending the canals. It would require a deal with the Conrad estate and a bridge on Broadway high enough to accommodate small motorboats, but it would create a lovely waterfront area that would lend itself to dockside cafés and apartments.
Financing of the canal restoration would have to be at public expense. It would have been a great stimulus fund project, but maybe there are other ways of doing it. There certainly is a great opportunity for the county as well as the town to expand its tax base. There is much more underutilized land between the plaza and Broadway that would be opened up for condos as well as restaurants. Anyone who has waited for an hour to get a seat at Dry Dock knows that people, residents as well as tourists, like to dine looking out on water. With apologies to my good friend Eric, Dry Dock will never earn Michelin’s three stars, but it is still a wonderful place to enjoy a meal when you can get a table.
The recent brouhaha over the expansion at the Key Club might give some potential developers the idea that Longboat is a tough place to try to do business. It is not. What has not been attempted is presenting the residents with a project that is mouthwatering in its beauty as well as its utility.
I haven’t heard anyone claim that the Key Club will make Longboat Key a prettier place because of its proposed additions. The entire dialog was centered on the financial aspects of the expansion. At no time in the deliberations over the application were aesthetic values mentioned. All that was heard was that the figures had to “add up.”
There are commercial properties all up and down GMD that are literally falling down; Lynch’s was the first but not the last. New development will be inevitable. Any developer who will bring a fresh mindset will be welcomed with open arms. Andrew and Dawn weren’t able to accomplish this. His frustrations that culminated in this final tirade were intrinsic to the property. Town codes are not the villain here.
