EAST TAMPA - With property tax revenues declining, neighborhoods counting on those dollars to fuel redevelopment projects face difficult choices.

Strategy matters. In East Tampa, where the city, business owners and residents are creating a long-range growth plan, the heart and the head sometimes are in conflict.

During three public workshops in February and March, residents remembered marketplaces in the heart of East Tampa that pulsed with activity on 22nd, 29th and 34th streets. They want those roads alive again with commerce.

But partnerships with private developers who are eyeing other commercial corridors could be the way to go, at least in the beginning, consultants said.

When asked what would draw investment to East Tampa, developers were clear.

"Largely, the response was, 'We will follow other development,'" said Keith Greminger, vice president of consulting group URS Corp., which the city hired to work on the East Tampa plan. "A lot of people don't like to be the first person out."

That means going after what Greminger calls "low-lying fruit," generally meaning projects that already have enticed private investment.

The Milner Hotel project is an example.

Developers plan to remodel the hotel and open it as a Quality Inn & Suites at 50th Street and Columbus Drive, off Interstate 4. A second, five-story hotel and restaurant are possible if the venture proves successful.

The city, backed by a recommendation from the East Tampa Community Revitalization Partnership, agreed to contribute about $680,000 in local property taxes to the project. More money could be pledged.

In return for the tax dollars, The Rand Development Group says it will create a community gateway by donating land for road widening, building a clock tower monument and adding green space.

The payback could be an estimated 90 hotel and restaurant jobs and more commercial development in one of the community's most blighted areas.

"We know the Milner has some momentum," Greminger said. "How do we play off that?"

Residents who are eager for their community to prosper don't discount Greminger's strategy. But it also stirs passions about 22nd, 29th and 34th streets, and a plea that they not be ignored.

"We are not driven only by the low-ended fruit," said Chloe Coney, former chairwoman of the partnership's economic development committee. "The community wants commercial on these, too. We want to create some African-American wealth in these predominantly African-American neighborhoods."

On 22nd, they say, redevelopment could build on the $100 million or so invested in Belmont Heights Estates, a project that replaced outdated public housing with modern, mixed-income apartments and houses.

"It's like we're going to abandon that," said Toni Watts, executive director of the Corporation to Develop Communities of Tampa.

The nonprofit agency builds affordable housing and offers career counseling, business planning, youth services and home ownership programs. It is building its headquarters, known as the Urban Enterprise Center, at 1907 E. Hillsborough Ave., near 22nd Street.

A draft growth plan will be presented in April to residents, the partnership and the city council, with a final plan expected in June.

Recommendations are focusing on five commercial areas, including 50th and Columbus. They are identified for potential growth based on existing investments, including the Brandywine Apartments on 40th Street.

Hillsborough Avenue offers opportunities where Fifth Third Bank plans to build a branch in front of Meridian Pointe Apartments. Fun-Lan Drive-In and a farmers market on Hillsborough also present opportunities, as well as areas around 21st Avenue and Columbus, and Lake Avenue and 22nd.

Grasping Opportunities

The plan will be a guide and an evaluation tool, said Ed Johnson, the city's East Tampa redevelopment manager.

The city is contributing $2 million to the ongoing beautification of 22nd, with landscaping, repaving and street lights. Local property taxes also are helping fund the project.

But, Johnson said, "You're not getting the attention from private development on 22nd as you are on 50th Street.

"Take advantage of what's presented to you," he said. "We can't chase these opportunities away."

As additional proof that 22nd isn't forgotten, Greminger showed off initial drawings of a village center that could be built. The obstacle is the anticipated cost of acquiring property.

Mayor Pam Iorio's administration has made East Tampa redevelopment a priority, however.

"She wants something to happen," Greminger said. "What we have to do is bring a plausible plan."

In 2003, the city created a 30-year special tax district for the East Tampa Community Redevelopment Area, which covers more than 7 square miles bordered by Hillsborough Avenue, interstates 4 and 275, and the city limits. A portion of tax revenues collected from the area must be reinvested in community projects aimed at ending blight and boosting the economy.

Since 2004, the district's tax revenues have grown from about $1.2 million to $6.2 million. But property tax reductions approved by Florida voters in January will reduce the annual budgets of Tampa's nine redevelopment areas, with East Tampa hit the hardest. A city analyst estimates East Tampa will lose $470,000 in the first year.

"I don't see this as a major problem," Johnson said. "We're still going to be in the $5 million range. We'd like to see it increase, but we can live with that."

Reporter Kathy Steele can be reached at (813) 835-2103 or ksteele@tampatrib.com.