TAMPA - Has the city got a land deal for you.

Tampa is trying to unload eight pieces of vacant land that have buildable value. The tracts are scattered throughout the city and zoned residential.

And the price is right.

"Best offer, we'll take it," said Herb Fecker, real estate division manager. "It's surplus. The objective is to get them back on the tax rolls."

In all, the city owns more than 100 pieces of land that aren't being used for much of anything. Some are tiny, as small as 46 feet by 78 feet. Others are an acre or more.

For the most part, the city acquired the land from property owners who fell behind on their taxes. If taxes haven't been paid for three years, the county forecloses. If the land is inside Tampa limits, the property is turned over to the city.

The city has plenty of incentive to sell the land. The properties aren't on the tax rolls, so the city can't collect property taxes.

The city pays an outside company about $70,000 to maintain some of its vacant properties, including even tiny slivers of land, and does the rest in-house.

Development Is Main Motive

Still, city officials say disposing of vacant land isn't all about property taxes and budgets. In many cases, they say, the land can be an incentive to get the right kind of development in the right area.

"We're not in that to make money," said Mark Huey, the city's economic development administrator. "It's one tool that we have to try to encourage private development. It's all about trying to bring private development in."

Some of the land the city purposefully bought. For example, several years ago the city used federal grant dollars to buy land along Palm and Nebraska avenues. The land must be used for economic redevelopment, such as bringing low-income jobs to the area.

When property comes to the city, the housing division takes a first look at the land. Can affordable housing be built on it?

If so, the housing division hangs on to the property and tries to work with nonprofit organizations and private developers to build low-cost housing on the sites.

Sometimes there are complications, said Sharon West, the city's housing manager, and the nonprofit groups aren't interested. There might be grand trees in the way, impeding development of the site.

So the land sits.

The city's housing division is trying to unload some of its 37 vacant parcels, preferably by turning land over to nonprofit groups and private developers who promise to build low-cost affordable housing.

The majority of city-owned, vacant land is in the city's nine Community Redevelopment Areas. The blighted areas benefit from a special taxing structure that brings money into the area for redevelopment.

The city owns at least 30 vacant parcels in East Tampa, including the former site of Gene's Bar. The city bought that property last year after years of complaints about noise, fights, litter and other problems. Now the city wants to buy some adjoining land and target the area for commercial redevelopment.

Ed Johnson, manager of the East Tampa Community Redevelopment Area, also hopes to put together deals on some of the other properties, but it's a long process.

"You need to have opportunity," Johnson said. "I would love to be able to put them into play somewhere. Until a deal's a deal, they just sit there."

Vince Pardo, manager of the Ybor City Community Redevelopment Area, faces similar hurdles. He cites 19 city-owned properties in his area. Some are parking lots, and some are areas where the Florida Department of Transportation might relocate houses as part of the interstate expansion project.

Some Parcels Held Back

Other parcels are designated for redevelopment, but no immediate plans are in the works. That's the case with two parcels at Nuccio Parkway and Seventh Avenue and one lot on the 1500 block of East 12th Avenue.

Pardo said that a hotel was interested in the Seventh Avenue property but plans never gelled.

"Unless we're looking for money, let's sit on it right now. It could be something we want as a gateway," he said.

Huey said holding off on trying to sell some of the property is good economic strategy. Better developers might eventually snap up the land and bring something viable to the blighted areas.

"When is the right time to put something on the market?" Huey said. "Do you want to sell your house in a down market?"

But the city's real estate division isn't waiting much longer to try to unload eight properties that aren't located in Community Redevelopment Areas.

The assessed value of the properties ranges from about $35,000 to about $57,000, according to city documents.

Cyndy Miller, director of growth management and development services, said that she intends to market those properties by the end of the year. Getting the best price possible - at or above market value - is the goal.

"A business would operate by getting the best value for its assets," Miller said. "The best practice might be to wait a few months."

Reporter Ellen Gedalius can be reached at (813) 259-7679 or egedalius@tampatrib.com.