TAMPA - A $500 million vision to reinvent a historical riverfront neighborhood near downtown cleared another hurdle Thursday.

The Tampa City Council unanimously gave an initial thumbs-up to rezoning a 48-acre swath of Tampa Heights to allow 1,900 condominiums and town houses.

A final vote is scheduled for July 13.

The project, called The Heights, also would bring 260,000 square feet of offices and stores, the redevelopment of the historical Tampa Armature Works building and enhancement of the city's Waterworks Park.

The developer, Better Place Group, also would create a riverwalk from North Boulevard to the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, provide boat slips, realign streets and improve utilities.

"The reason the project was initiated was to eliminate blight in a deteriorated neighborhood," Better Place President Bill Bishop said before the council meeting.

"Creating this dense residential neighborhood will do a lot to reinforce Tampa as a livable city," said Bishop, whose partners include Bank of America and Don Wallace, president and chief executive officer of Lazy Days RV Center.

Work would last about 10 years, Bishop said. Condos and town houses of three to 16 stories would be priced from $300,000 to $1 million, with 10 percent of residences made available as affordable housing based on the area's median income.

The council also agreed to designate the area a community development district, similar to one in Tampa Palms, allowing Better Place to issue bonds for street, lighting and utility upgrades.

Founded in the early 1880s, Tampa Heights was home to business owners, lawyers and civic leaders. A century later, drugs and crime plagued the neighborhood and civic activists and city officials sought to reverse the neglect, encouraging restoration of historical homes.

Then-Mayor Dick Greco proposed a $217 million, 77-acre redevelopment in the late 1990s.

For The Heights project, the city may pay for seawall repairs and park improvements. It also declared the area blighted, allowing Better Place to use property taxes generated in the community for infrastructure improvements.

This year, the city agreed to use its eminent domain power if necessary to help Better Place acquire 14 properties, none of which has a homestead exemption. Bishop said his group since has reached deals on four of those properties.

Owners opposed to selling say they want more money or simply to keep their land and benefit from redevelopment.

Many residents are backing The Heights.

Jim Hartnett, a six-year resident and vice president of the Tampa Heights Civic Association, said the project would transform the area, creating a walking district where restaurants, stores and the river are accessible.

"I don't know anyone in the neighborhood who is against it in spirit or idea," Hartnett said.

Contact Jose Patino Girona at (813) 835-2110 or jpatino @tampatrib.com.