Optimism greets townhomes proposal

After dozens of plans went nowhere, Tarpon Springs' mayor says he hopes to see Anclote Manor demolished.

By KELLEY BENHAM, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published January 22, 2003

TARPON SPRINGS -- After nearly six idle years and dozens of dead-end proposals, plans are moving forward to redevelop the old Anclote Manor psychiatric hospital.

A proposal to demolish the old buildings and build 160 upscale townhouses comes before the city Planning and Zoning board Monday night. If that committee and the City Commission agree, construction would begin on the project in August.

"This one is good for the citizens and good for the city," said city business services specialist Charlie Attardo.

Attardo does not usually get optimistic about proposals for the property because he has seen so many of them.

This time, he said, "we're pretty optimistic."

The city is eager to see the land developed. The townhomes would sell for about $250,000 each, and the development would probably generate $175,000 to $200,000 a year for the city, Attardo said.

"They're nice-looking townhomes, and the project seems to make sense," Mayor Frank DiDonato said. "We need to do something with it. It's just rundown, and it continues to deteriorate."

The property is about 23 waterfront acres at 1527 Riverside Drive, in the northwest corner of the city just south of the Anclote River. It is assessed for tax purposes at just more than $2-million and sold in 1990 for $3.75-million, public records show. Its owner paid $46,684 in taxes last year.

The land, owned by a California-based real estate investment trust, has been coveted by so many developers that Attardo said he could not count them all. Plans that have come and gone include a juvenile retention center, a five-star resort and spa, and a brain-injury rehabilitation center.

In June, Lennar Homes, a Miami-based builder with projects in 15 states, signed a contract on the property contingent on a development plan the community will accept.

Neighborhood opposition helped kill a plan for a juvenile drug treatment center. But so far, the townhome concept has received a warmer welcome, Attardo said.

"The neighborhood seems comfortable at least with the concept," he said. "It's a lot better than a juvenile prison."

The development would be surrounded by landscaping and include an internal park, said Lennar Homes' regional manager Mike Dady. The homes will probably be two stories but might include a first-floor garage for a total of three.

"It will be a very attractive, master-planned community," he said.

The company has another townhome community, Venetian Bay, under construction in St. Petersburg, he said.

If the planning and zoning board approves the plan, it will proceed to the City Commission for consideration Feb. 11 and again Feb. 18. Neighbors can comment at any of the three public meetings. The planning and zoning meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday at Tarpon Springs City Hall, 324 E Pine St.

Anclote Manor has a colorful 70-year history.

Built during the Florida real estate boom of the 1920s, the main facility was originally called the Sunset Hills Country Club. After World War II, an insurance executive turned it into a resort hotel called Upham House on the Gulf of Mexico.

After he closed it, the facility became Anclote Manor in 1953. Later, it was called the Manors and the Northpointe Behavioral Health System, which closed in 1997.

The part of the property that once was a golf course at the country club was sold for residential development and now is called Pointe Alexis South.

In 1989, when the facility was known as Anclote Manor Hospital, a prosecutor described it as "a medieval house of horrors" during a court hearing about his investigation into allegations of patient mistreatment. Some patients complained of being tied to their beds for weeks and locked in their rooms for up to a year.

In those days, an escaped patient would occasionally wander over to neighbors' homes.

Now that the place is empty, some neighbors would like it to stay that way. But that's unrealistic, the city said.

"Something's going to happen to that property," DiDonato said.

The property is zoned for single-family residential or institutional use. To build the townhomes, the city will have to change the zoning to allow a residential planned development.

Lennar Homes has held a couple of meetings with neighboring residents and has another scheduled for today, Dady said. The neighbors are fairly positive about the development, he said, especially considering the alternatives.

"They seem cautiously optimistic," he said.

-- Kelley Benham can be reached at (727) 445-4182 or benham@sptimes.com .

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