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MELIA BOWIESouthgate Shopping Center will get a new look, and rebuilding proceeds at Leverock's Seafood House. Boat condos may be in the works.
NEW PORT RICHEY - The city's redevelopment efforts are now taking root along U.S. 19.
Even as multimillion-dollar projects are planned for downtown, businesses along west Pasco's main thoroughfare are getting ready to rebuild and spruce up their storefronts with a facelift or two.
The owners of Southgate Shopping Center at U.S. 19 and Marine Parkway say they are planning "to redevelop the entire shopping plaza, starting with Publix," said Erin Gleavy, a spokeswoman for New Plan Excel Realty, which owns the center and is based in New York.
The company redeveloped Tarpon Mall in 2003, beginning its work there with a new Publix that replaced a dormant Scotty's.
City officials said that although no timeline has been set because plans for the Southgate project still are in the preliminary phase, "they're getting ready to do it real quick," said Fred Metcalf, director of development services for the city.
The existing Publix store will be demolished and a new one built on its footprint with a different layout, he said.
Construction for the new store is expected to last four months, according to projections from Publix.
The grocery's most recent renovation was more than five years ago, said city officials.
After the new store is built, Southgate's owners told the city that they intend to begin facade, sign and parking improvements for the rest of the center.
The work comes as Leverock's Seafood House continues its reconstruction of the popular restaurant after an August 2003 blaze.
"We're pretty much building from the slab up," said Bill Long, vice president and chief financial officer for Gold Coast Restaurants in Tampa, which owns the private chain of seafood houses.
In November, Long was quoted in the Times as saying that he hoped to reopen the restaurant this spring.
Although a delay in building permits has pushed back that timeline by a month or two, he said Tuesday that the company hopes to complete its million-dollar project around July.
Also, there has been discussion between a Naples developer and the owners of the Ramada Inn Bayside along U.S. 19 to scrap the hotel and build boat condominiums there. But, "it is by far not decided," said hotel owner Jutta Shaikh.
"There is no contract, nothing's been signed, nothing's been sold. We're in the same state we were in a year ago."
Shaikh said she might favor a straightforward sale of the hotel, but the developer wants her to remain involved in the project - something that still is being discussed.
But "we are not going to demolish a hotel," she said of the Ramada, noting that business there is good and considerable renovation has been done to its lobby, rooms and facade. "At this moment nothing is happening."