TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Highlands Today

Vacant Avon Park Building Being Eyed For Apartments

Jasmina Meyer/Highlands Today

A view of the front of the Brickell building which is currently under renovation to build about 15 apartments on Main street in Avon Park.

ADVERTISEMENT

By Douglas  Carman | Highlands Today

Published: June 5, 2008

AVON PARK — Incoming college freshmen wouldn't normally think of off-campus housing as a necessity unless they're heading to one of the larger state universities, but South Florida Community College actually has a need for it.

The Jacaranda Hotel's women's dormitory was booked through the school year that ended in May, said Don Appelquist, the executive director of the SFCC Foundation. Even though 10 apartments were left for the men, he anticipates nearly all of the men's dorms will be booked as well before August.

Jacaranda, operated by SFCC, houses 35 male and 35 female students who live outside of the Highlands, Hardee and DeSoto counties, even though Appelquist said an occasional student from DeSoto might prefer taking courses at the main Avon Park campus without taking the commute. Most of the out-of-district students attend SFCC to join one of the athletic teams.

An assistant to the new owner of the Brickell Building said this is the market they plan to target as they renovate the now-vacant building. David Maples, an assistant to new Brickell owner Jose Reynoso, said they planned to build 15 to 18 one- and two-bedroom apartments on the building's second floor.

Maples added that the proposed apartments could also go for senior citizens.

"We just haven't done the analysis," Maples said. "When we start putting the walls up, that's when we're going to come in and see which one's more needed."

Appelquist said four developers planning apartments for the northern part of Highlands County, including Reynoso, approached him with plans to pitch their apartments to the student community. Appelquist declined to identify the other three.

"Yes, there is some need in addition to what we offer but not a huge need... not enough for four additional complexes of housing availability, in my opinion," Appelquist said. "But times are changing."
Devon Donaldson, the chairman of the Main Street Community Redevelopment Agency Advisory Board, saw it differently.

"There's always a need for affordable housing and that's what they keep touting," he said. "I think they'll be successful if they stick to that."

Some other businesses near the building are paying attention to what Reynoso's doing with it as well.
Annabelle's of Avon owner Betty Cornell remembered the days before the 2004 hurricane season, when the Brickell building was full of tenants and was, in her opinion, downtown's biggest commercial draw. As the tenants left under its previous ownership, the former Brickell tenant complained that the building became dilapidated.

Now, "we're just delighted that somebody is taking interest in that building," Cornell said.
Angel Del Valle, who moved the Broken Spoke Flea Market out of the Brickell Building in March, wasn't as optimistic. Unless the apartments were very cheap, he didn't believe the renovations would draw any new people downtown with the current economic conditions, and in fact he expected more businesses to leave.

"Everything here is pretty empty," he said.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT