The meeting gave the entrepreneur an opportunity to pitch his housing idea to the department's interim secretary.
By DAVID KARP
Published December 11, 2003
Just days before he leaves office to run for Florida's open U.S. Senate seat, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Mel Martinez arranged a high-level meeting to discuss Ed Turanchik's urban redevelopment plans for Tampa.
Turanchik met in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday for an hour with HUD Deputy Secretary Alphonso Jackson, who will take over HUD on an interim basis when Martinez leaves Friday.
"Getting an hour of Secretary Jackson's time the day before he takes over was an incredible gesture," Turanchik said.
"It was a nice meeting," he said. "I think it's fair to say they thought it was a very special project and seemed genuinely pleased and interested in it."
The meeting comes at a time when Martinez needs support in Tampa for his first statewide campaign. If the project gets approval from HUD this summer, Martinez could conceivably stand on a podium in the fall celebrating its birth.
Turanchik's project could open some important doors for Martinez. He is in a crowded Republican primary fight that includes one local rival - state House Speaker Johnnie Byrd Jr. from Plant City. Also, the Democratic challenger could well be former Education Commissioner Betty Castor, who rose to prominence from Hillsborough County.
So, the political benefits could be significant. Among the project's supporters are C. Blythe Andrews Jr., chairman of the Florida Sentinel Bulletin, and east Tampa activist Betty Wiggins, two well-known figures in Tampa's black community. Working with them are some wealthy, politically active business leaders, such as Lazy Days RV chief Don Wallace, and developers Mandell "Hinks" Shimberg and Bill Bishop. Turanchik said Tuesday that Martinez arranged the meeting after hearing about his plans several months ago.
"I told him we were working on something very special," Turanchik said. "He said he would like to hear about it."
Turanchik has known Martinez from before he became HUD secretary, when he was chairman of Orange County and Turanchik was working on Central Florida's failed bid for the 2012 Olympics.
In an interview at his office, Martinez said he first heard about Turanchik's project from Stephen Mitchell, a Tampa attorney working for Turanchik's team. He talked to Mitchell casually but didn't discuss details.
Mitchell is a well-connected Republican lawyer who gave more than $25,000 to Republican causes in 2000.
Turanchik will need HUD's approval for his plans. He wants to demolish two low-income public housing projects in Tampa's Central Park neighborhood and build townhouses that could cost as much as $650,000. He envisions a 157-acre, upscale neighborhood downtown where the rich and poor would live together. Public housing residents could also decide to move to units miles away.
HUD can help in two ways:
First, HUD will evaluate a proposal for a $20-million federal Hope VI grant to renovate the Central Park Village housing projects.
The Tampa Housing Authority, which is applying for the grant, may join Turanchik's development plans. HUD could award the money next summer.
Federal rules forbid people from lobbying HUD officials for Hope VI grants. Hundreds of housing authorities across the United State compete for the money.
Turanchik said he didn't talk to the deputy secretary about Tampa's Hope VI grant. But Turanchik did talk about plans to take over the Tampa Park Apartments, a 371-unit complex for low-income residents in the Central Park neighborhood.
The Tampa Park Apartments, located on Nuccio Parkway by Ybor City, are another key element to Turanchik's redevelopment plans.
His group has a deal with the apartments' owners to purchase the property. But he doesn't have HUD's approval for the deal.
The apartment complex operates under a contract with HUD, which backed $4.4-million in loans to build the complex in the late 1960s. Two HUD agreements prevent the owners for using the property for anything but low-income housing.
The last agreement with HUD expires in August 2010.
Turanchik needs to persuade HUD to change the deal to let his project happen.
He acknowledged Tuesday that HUD officials had not approved the arrangement and only knew "general" information about it until now.
Turanchik has refused to reveal the specifics of his agreement with the owners of Tampa Park Apartments.
HUD plans to send a team to Tampa this month to examine the deal, Turanchik said.
- Times staff writer Bill Adair in Washington contributed to this report. David Karp can be reached at 226-3376 or karp@sptimes.com
