TAMPA After 6 1/2 hours of debate and a bout of flip-flopping, a split Tampa City Council still hasn't decided whether to approve a $100 million makeover of Hyde Park Village.

Council members Tom Scott, Joseph Caetano and Gwen Miller voted early today to approve rezoning the 10-acre outdoor shopping area to allow for 163 condominiums in two towers, but council members Linda Saul-Sena and Mary Mulhern opposed the changes. At least four council members must approve or deny the rezoning.

With Charlie Miranda absent and John Dingfelder abstaining, the council must vote again Dec. 20, this time with Miranda present but without public comment.

Dingfelder recused himself when the hearing began at 6:45 p.m. Thursday, saying his law offices were located in the village until Nov. 30 when they moved a few blocks away on Swann Avenue.

"I want to err on the side of caution," he said.

Saul-Sena made a motion to approve the project but recanted.

"I feel ill," she said at 1:10 a.m. after hearing almost four hours of public comment. "Not because I'm tired, but because I'm so conflicted.

"This is so hard," she said. "This is absolutely the hardest case."

David Wasserman, principal of village owner Wasserman Realty Capital, said he couldn't fathom why the council didn't approve the plans.

"It is amazing that a project like this would not be universally embraced," he said after the hearing. "It is interesting to me that something like this is so contentious."

He said he doesn't know what he will do if the village plans are rejected.

"I have lots of options," he said. "I could abandon it. I could sell it."

In addition to the two towers, Wasserman wants to build offices and a gourmet grocery. But many Hyde Park residents have opposed the project since its unveiling almost two years ago. The city's Architectural Review Commission has rejected the plans three times, most recently in November when it found the latest version of the project out of character with the historical neighborhood.

Neighbors packed city hall again Thursday night for the rezoning hearing, with supporters and opponents lining opposite walls of the council chambers as they awaited their turn at the microphone.

Mulhern grilled Wasserman on how the plan would revitalize the 20-year-old village.

"It's a viable, lively, sustainable place now," she said.

Wasserman said adding housing would allow his company to make more improvements.

"A fresh face is needed to bring revitalization; bring a sense of community," he said.

Caetano said he visited the village this week and was stunned by the number of empty storefronts.

"If we don't have this revitalization, the village will not be successful," he said. "Tampa will never be the next great city if we vote no to a project like yours."

The plans call for the former Sunrise Cinema building on Swann Avenue to be replaced with a 90-foot tower with 85 residences, 46,501 square feet of office and retail space, including a grocery, and 348 parking spaces.

The former Brooks Bros. building would become an 80-foot tower with 78 residences, 43,530 square feet of retail and office space, and 263 parking spaces.

Wasserman scaled back proposals calling for buildings of 102 feet and 89 feet tall, with a total of 226 residences.

But resident TerenceÖ Moore said he's still concerned about traffic and building heights.

"I hope Mr. Wasserman will do a project to renovate Hyde Park Village, just not this one," Moore said. "We do not need more residences."

Kit Stewart, who owns a clothing store in the village, said she and other business owners are concerned about the village's future if the project doesn't happen.

"There are no people walking around," Stewart said. "This project is so important to us. Without it, we won't be able to afford to make it."

Reporter Michael H. Samuels can be reached at (813) 835-2109 or msamuels@tampatrib.com.