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Businessman eyes Key West Bight site to build housing
By TIMOTHY O'HARA
keysnews.com
KEY WEST -- Local
businessman Ed Swift plans to sink $1.25 million into a project that
would bring eight affordable apartments and a new restaurant to Old
Town.
City commissioners
will consider the plan at their meeting Wednesday.
The building, located
at the Key West Bight, is owned by the city. Swift would pay the $1.25
million in construction costs, but the city would still hold title of
the former Plantains restaurant building at 908 Caroline St., the
contract states.
The lease calls for
the city to rent the building to Swift's company, Old Town Key West
Development, Ltd., for $1,000 a month for 20 years with the option to
renew the release after that.
"It's a win-win deal,"
Assistant City Manager John Jones said. "It's what we need."
Port Director Raymond
Archer is recommending its approval, and the Bight Board approved the
proposal at its Aug. 20 the meeting.
The current building
will be torn down, Jones said. The new building will have two stories.
The first floor will be a restaurant and possibly a retail store. The
top will be eight affordable housing units, restricted by the city's
affordable housing ordinance.
The city bought the
property in the early 1990s when it formed the Caroline Street Corridor
and Bahama Village Community Redevelopment Agency. The building had been
used as a restaurant and for other purposes that never really took hold,
Jones said. The building had fallen into disrepair over the past several
years and became a shelter for transients.
"It's an eyesore,"
Jones said.
The commission will
discuss the deal at its 6 p.m. Wednesday meeting at Old City Hall, 510
Greene St.
In other action:
*Commissioners are
slated to give 12 impounded bikes to Florida Keys Outreach Coalition for
working homeless people.
*Commissioners will
consider a plan to make Telegraph Lane one way from Greene Street to
Caroline Street. The small street will be one way south to accommodate a
trash compactor for Rick's Bar, Jones said.
*Commissioners may
approve a rate increase in its agreement with American Medical Response,
Inc. The increase would be 5.8 percent per year over five years. The
money would go toward increasing employee pay. Key West Rescue officials
have said that they are having a hard time filling paramedic positions
at the current level of pay.
*Commissioners will
consider increasing the parking fees at the Old Town Parking lot from
$1.25 per hour or $8 maximum to $1.50 per hour or $10 maximum.
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