Downtown Revitalization Depends on Attracting Eateries

Revitalization of downtown Tarpon Springs needs special anchor tenants to create foot traffic and attract local shoppers to the Community Redevelopment District.

My supposition is that the attraction of good food will lure local shoppers to regularly visit and shop Tarpon Avenue, as well as adjacent strees in the CRA. Tarpon Avenue and its side streets, in particular, needs a mixture of either; a chinese food takeout, ice cream parlor-coffee shop, a Mexican restaurant or pizza shop, just to name a few. It would also be nice if the avenue also had a Greek eatery, since after all Tarpon Springs is known for its Helenic taste treats.

Some might say it's easier said than done, and we have tried everything all before, but it may just take a little clever ingenuity and incentives to make it happen.

The city will have to spend some money and offer incentives to spark redevelopment of its downtown; merely showing off the beauty of the historic downtown isn't enough. However, in the long run Tarpon will make money from its investment in sales tax and other reciepts.

First, building owners along Tarpon Avenue need a blend of either municipal no-interest loans, tax incentives and grants specifically designed to retrofit the infrastructure of their historic buildings to meet electrical, plumbing, and other needs of a restaurant business. Owners of these properties are local and don't have the funds to rennovate on their own. Facade grants and offering a business or property owner a few thousand dollars to improve their property just won't work.

The city should also identify property owners in the CRA willing to work with entrapeneurs interested in opening up a restaurant. Utilizing the chamber and Tarpon Merchants Association, the city can form a redevelopment committee to intensively market those properties to potential restauranteurs. The group can start with businesses that don't have to be retrofitted to get the ball rolling. Any downtown property owner in the Community Redevelopment District wishing to house an eatery can participate or list their property with the committee.

Now comes an idea that will at first raise eyebrows and cause some to not be able to catch their breath--but it will be a big incentive to attracting a new business. The city has to offer to pay a portion of the cost to lease space for six months or up to a year to allow the restaurant business to get off the ground. However, if the property owner wants to take advantage of a special property tax reduction incentive, they will defray portion of the lease that the city would have paid.

In the long run, when these businesses prosper, they will be creating sales tax revenue for the city and attract shoppers to revitalize downtown. Can you imagine the local foot traffic that will be created. Other businesses will flourish and make money, which in turn will attract a wider variety of other businesses that want to be part of a thriving downtown.

Anyone who can't picture what it could mean just has to visit Dunedin's downtown, where small retailers were persuaded to set up shop after seeing foot traffic created by restaurants in the district.

Some will balk and say: why just help restaurant entrapreneurs? Because eateries attract the greatest amount of the general population. A furniture store just attracts people who need furniture, but everyone has to eat sometimes.

Now that it is budget time for municipalites this may be an idea to consider. Don't thank me now, wait and see all those hungry locals fill downtown parking spaces.