It Takes a Village

During the next few months, the north end, and especially the village, may see the town commission proposing revisions to the existing town comprehensive plan and building codes to allow a major tourism development on the commercial land located at GMD and Broadway at the north end of Longboat Key.

I hope the north end community will participate in large numbers in this process. If the residents participate, there is much more likelihood that the land at the entrance to the Village will be developed with an intent to maintain and protect the ambiance of the neighborhood.  If the north end community does not choose to be an active part of the development planning, then what happens at the north end may not be in the best interests of the major stakeholders in the area, namely the homeowners.

Let's look at the difference in composition between shopping centers that cater to residents in a community, compared to shopping centers that cater to tourists. Are the two appreciably different? Perhaps we can compare two such shopping experiences located adjacent to the north end. One is the Center Shops on Longboat Key and the other is Bradenton Beach. Both are thriving, yet each caters to a different clientele.

The types of businesses located at the Center Shops rely on local customers to survive. The businesses include the well attended Longboat Key Education Center, a bank, three locally supported restaurants, a frame shop, an exercise center, a UPS store, several offices, dry cleaner, kitchen shop, window treatment store, etc.


Bradenton Beach enjoys two seasons, drawing patrons in the winter from Anna Maria Island and during the summer from beach goers and day tourists. The types of businesses in Bradenton Beach are largely tourist oriented. I do not think anyone believes the few residents of Bradenton Beach are capable of supporting such a robust group of tourist oriented businesses. Ed Cliles' Beach House restaurant is a major draw for Bradenton Beach and appears to enjoy a year-round clientele.

The unique location of the north end commercial property, its relatively low cost, and its access to the north end beaches might attract a developer interested in creating a day tourist destination. Such a development could be a lot more fun than Coquina Beach on a year-round basis for tourists and Manatee County residents. However, I cannot see how local residents and day tourists share similarities in lifestyle. I am trying to imagine what types of businesses would attract beach going day tourists and young people to a commercial center on the north end of Longboat Key.

In recent studies it has been found, that when commercial tourism is introduced into a previously residential community, the local residents tend to lose territory, as they retreat from tourist activities.

The composition of the proposed commercial overlay district at the north end is a question of who's interests will be favored. If it is residential taxpayers, then there will be restrictions as to what sorts of businesses can be located within the overlay district. If it is simply finding a way of resuscitating a failed commercial center, then a more open approach will most likely be considered. Reference: ordinance 2012-06 Future Land Use Elements GOPS discusses north end overlay district.

Last evening, at the Observer/PIC debate, Commissioner Brenner stated that "retail does not work" at Whitney Plaza, and we've seen that that has been the case for years. If retail does not work, what does work, and do we want it? 

The residents of the Village need to be involved.



 

Where Angels Fear to Tread

Juliani Kenney Investment Capital, LLC is in the process of purchasing the old bank building owned by PFG Asset Managenent and occupied by Montgomery Asset Management. Additionally Juliani Kenney are aManagementlso trying to purchase all the land bounded by GMD, Broadway Street, Cedar Street and Palm Court. These purchases constitute a significant increase in investments for Juliani Kenney on the north end of Longboat.

Prior to their latest acquisitions, JKIC purchased Whitney plaza for $3.7 million in December, 2010 and have so far been unable to attract any retail businesses to the plaza. At a recent Village Association gathering Brian Kenney described the challenges of persuading anchor retailers, such as Walgreen Drug or Panara Bread, to locate at Whitney Plaza. Brian spoke of drive-by counts and other metrics employed by retail chains to evaluate future store locations. Given the 2010 census figures listed below, it is little wonder that Juliani Kenney are finding it difficult to rent space in the now dilapidated shopping mall.

"The percentage of residents ages 65 and up rose to 67.3%, from 58.3% in 2000. The percentage of residents ages 85 and up rose by 46%, with 8.2% of residents age 85 or older in April 2010, compared to 5.1% in April 2000. The island, which experienced a 9.4% decline in population over the past decade according to the census, lost residents in every age group from ages 15 through 74. " The number of people who call themselves "residents" decreased 41%.

In the face of daunting demographics and lack of success, over the past few months, in attracting retailers to Whitney Plaza, Juliani Kenney choose to double-down their bets, so to speak, by investing in still more commercial real estate at the north end.

I try to put myself in the shoes of Juliani Kenney in light of their most recent acquisitions. I keep stumbling on the fact that the new parcel and Whitney Plaza are separated my Cedar Street. In addition, the northern parcel is narrow, by commercial standards, and thus difficult to develop without adding to the property depth. That can only be accomplished by acquiring Palm Court which bounds the property on the east.

To my way of thinking to invest millions in two commercial real estate parcels that are separated by a well-trafficked street is going where angels fear to tread. Prior to Juliani Kenney all of this land appeared to be commercially inviable. Andrew Vaac was not able to resell the bank building just as Andrew Hlywa was unable to make a go-of-it at Whitney Plaza. In fact a succession of owners over the past 20 years have all failed to operate Whitney Plaza at a profit.

Personally I would be worried about acquiring two separate and previously financially unsuccessful commercial properties without almost absolute assurance that I would be able to join the two parcels and widen the northern parcel. That would of course require that the town commission deed the streets over to Juliani Kenney. That could be a problem if the residents at the north end do not want to abandon the well used thoroughfares. At present many village residents use both Palm Court and Cedar street as a "safe" access route to get onto GMD headed south.

In several newspaper articles about recent Juliani Kenney land purchases, a few different threads emerge about how best to utilize the newly purchased land parcels. Brian Kinney appears to believe there may be a need for a hotel on the property. Certainly this is a far more ambitious project than the one previously put forth by Juliani Kenney of revitalizing the retail space at Whitney Plaza. It is doubtful that anything now will be done to the crumbling Plaza if a new "grand design" is put forth. That could mean many years of empty building blight at the north end while the economy recovers to a point where investors might be willing to spend tens of millions to launch a large scale redevelopment of Whitney Plaza. I can envisage an exclusive low-rise tasteful boutique hotel, beautifully landscaped and blending-in with the existing ambiance of the north-end as being an enhancement to the community.

There still remains the problems for retail and tourism created by an increasingly affluent community that spends only a few months a year on Longboat. Because there are relatively few people living on our island most of the year, it is almost impossible to make a living here if you run a retail business or tourist facility. Each new hotel/motel room, each new store that is built/opened on the island dilutes the already inadequate pool of paying customers. As Longboat became more and more popular as a winter retirement retreat, more and more real estate was converted from tourism to condominium usage. Even with many fewer tourism units the occupancy rates are still dismal. Many people who come to Longboat in off season say it looks like a ghost town. As on drives up GMD at night all the condominium windows are dark. This may present a challenge to anyone looking to open a tourist attraction on the island and attract year-round clients.

Perhaps the best and easiest solution to the dilemma the commission thinks exits on Longboat is to relax and get comfortable with what we have become - a seasonal retirement retreat for the well-to-do. This is a good thing to be if you are one of the 18,000 or so fortunate residents of our island. There is really nothing that needs doing. We are all doing just fine. Housing sales are coming back. We have finally achieved a stable retail/tourism presence after the build-out of the island. Let's just settle in and enjoy our beautiful community just as it is.

Ex-mayor Spoll recently cautioned the town and the commission about community reaction to inappropriate development on the north end. I agree with his assertions that the north end ambiance is uniquely "old Florida" and should be preserved as a major asset to out entire community. To his credit Brian Kenney stated "It’s definitely not our desire to build a monstrosity that upsets the town and nearby residents.” It remains to be seem if his definition of monstrosity is similar to that of north end residents.

Let's hope our development-fixated commission and planning board heed George Spoll's advice.

Walking on Rainbows



I sold my business in Lake Tahoe in 1984 and complained about the cold and the snow for another year before I decided to move to the village on Longboat Key. Twenty-six years later I still feel I made a really good decision to move from an alpine paradise to a tropical island paradise. I appreciate beautiful places and friendly people. At first I leased one of the Whitney cottages on Longboat Drive South. I met some wonderful young neighbors who advised me to buy Rainbow flip-flops. They told me they were the best. I still agree and I have spent the past two and a half decades mostly in tee-shirts shorts and walking on Rainbows. You can buy Rainbows at the surf shop adjacent to Manatee Beach.



In 1985 there were around 5,000 residences on Longboat and the median income was around $40K. Rents were reasonable as were home prices and taxes. There were a number of young people living on the north end. Many of today's condominiums did not yet exist and living was easy. Whitney Plaza was full of fun and interesting shops along with a huge drugstore and a Foodway market. There was an art supply shop frequented by a very busy art center clientèle, along with a high-end kitchen store and cute clothing shops. The village was a sort of Bohemian community filled with artists and other interesting people. It was easy to fall in love with the miles of sunny sugar-sand beaches and the relaxed tempo of island living. Even then the local paper was filled with articles and letters about political turmoil surrounding the developer wars. PIC became active the year I moved here. PIC would soon have 1,100 members. (PIC now has fewer than 115 members including the Key Club, their lawyer and two Chamber board members.) Things were intense for a couple of years. In the end the people prevailed, the developers were reined-in and the density of Longboat was reduced from a proposed seventy-five thousand to twenty-five thousand.

By 1990 there were almost 6,000 residents and the median income had risen to $85K. People with money were pouring onto the island. It was the hay-day of the new American prosperity and Longboat was paradise for sale. What had been a relatively undeveloped beach town with lots of motels was rapidly being transformed into an exclusive seasonal residential retirement oasis.

Whitney Plaza was the center of commercial activity on the island after Paul Neal opened the shopping center in 1971. However, when Publix open their market at Bay Isles in the mid-80's, the two gentlemen who owned the Foodway market at Whitney Plaza put the business up for sale. Within a few years the new shopping center at Bay Isles had a profound negative impact on Whitney Plaza businesses. The Pan Handler and the wonderful art shop closed. The market was obviously in trouble. The new owners could not afford to restock the shelves and soon shopping there became what one might imagine it would be like to go shopping in Siberia. Bay Isles and the Center Shops slowly sucked the life out of Whitney Plaza at a time when tourism, real estate and population were peaking on Longboat. We had lots of tourists, yet Whitney Plaza struggled and slowly deteriorated. Since the businesses that replaced the Plaza's initial array of interesting shops were less prosperous, needed repairs and improvements were never made.

By 2000, the resident population of Longboat had grown to 7,600 and the median income was over $100K. Longboat was one of the wealthiest zip codes in the country. Still Whitney Plaza was languishing and the types of businesses coming into the shopping center catered more and more to tourists. Real estate prices shot up as demand increased. Rents increased along with home values and most of the young renters had to leave paradise. Longboat was at the pinnacle of its development cycle, yet Whitney Plaza was sinking. Why? The Holiday Inn and most of the other hotels/motels were still open. My guess is that Longboat was morphing from being a residential beach community into a town of exclusive, seasonal second homes. Inversely, as the affluence of the property owners increased, the vitality of the community decreased. We became a gathering of gated and very private enclaves for America's wealthy. Nothing wrong with that. However, one consequence of becoming a private community is that all the young people left along with a lot of what made it fun for tourists. Let's be honest young people are more lively and active than what Longboat was becoming.

During the period between 1970 and 1990 Longboat was a relatively undeveloped island. The Old Florida atmosphere and numerous mom-and-pop motels and resorts attracted tourists all winter long. The Key Club was emerging as a major attraction for the more affluent home buyers looking to invest in a second home. Little by little the condominiums replaced the 50s-style seaside resorts and tourists had to find somewhere else to vacation.

Our current commissioners are trying to convince us that only lots of new, and probably tall tourist resorts will bring back Whitney Plaza, and that we need to expand commercial activities to attract tourists to fill the new tall resorts. Of course, along with all of this, there will need to be a considerable increase in density, especially on the Manatee end of the island.

Meanwhile, 13 properties sold on Longboat during March, 2011, the peak real estate sales month on our island. Thirteen. During 2010, 2,225 properties sold in The Villages in central Florida. Our commission would do well to stop pushing on a string and start pulling our community towards home sales liquidity.

From 1980 to 2010, Longboat Key was transformed from a sleepy, relatively undeveloped tourist destination into an upscale residential community. The tourist community no longer exists. Instead, we have become perhaps the most beautifully developed community on the West coast of Florida. Let's not destroy our ambiance with tourist shops and too many people. We already are the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.