After Largo rejects apartments, developer pitches warehouses for property
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jun 2, 2022

A Pinellas Park developer is pitching a pair of warehouses for a Largo property after the city denied plans for a multifamily development on the site.

Carlos Yepes of Belleair Development Group owns the property and originally intended to build 231 multifamily units at 800 Eighth Avenue SE, but that proposal was denied by the city in October 2021.

At a May 25 meeting with neighbors of the property, Yepes said his firm is in negotiations with some medical assembly companies to occupy the warehouses.

Commissioners had received a flood of feedback from neighbors regarding traffic and safety concerns for the multifamily project and the proposal would have required the city to change the land use at the site from industrial to residential. After it was denied, Yepes returned with a plan for an industrial project at the site. Largo's Development Review Committee examined the plans on April 20.

Yepes's plans for 15.46-acre property include two warehouses: One will be 101,000 square feet and the other will be 96,000 square feet, totaling 197,975 square feet.

The apartment project required a rezoning approval and a public hearing. Because the land is already zoned for industrial development, this proposal will not go before the planning board or city commission.

The neighborhood information meeting is one of the steps in the city's site plan review process. The final site plan package still needs to be submitted; if approved, the project will move into the permitting and construction process.

A 10-foot-wide multi-use trail along Eighth Avenue Southeast and Donegan Road and a large retention pond are also planned for the site. The multi-use trail is not required, but at the request of staff, Yepes said they have added it to the project.

The property is adjacent to Largo Middle School. Some of those in attendance have expressed traffic concerns for both neighbors and the students at the school with large trucks and 18-wheelers headed to and from the warehouses.

Yepes said they plan to only have one entrance for the property — toward the corner of Eighth Avenue Southeast and the railroad tracks adjacent to the middle school.

Alicia Parinello, Largo's planning manager, said a traffic study will be done for the location as well. Some of the roadway issues will be more complex due to Eighth Avenue Southeast being under the city’s jurisdiction and Donegan Road being under the county’s jurisdiction. The Lincolnshire Estates mobile home park is adjacent to the eastern edge of the property.

Yepes was not immediately available for comment. He told TBN Weekly that it was "unfortunate" his firm couldn't help with Pinellas County's housing crisis.

“We thought it would be more (compatible) than developing it with industrial,” he told TBN. “The apartments would have generated a lot less traffic, as traffic was the major complaint.”