Orlando developer commits to Temple Terrace, despite revisions
Tampa Bay Business Journal - 5:39 PM EDT Wednesday

There are plenty of changes in Temple Terrace city officials' revised plan to redevelop its downtown area, but the developer that signed on to the original plan says it will be around for the long haul.

The company will continue to be a part of the extensive redevelopment project on the southeast corner of Busch Boulevard and 56th Street, Lee J. Maher, president of Orlando-based Unicorp National Developments Inc., told city officials in a letter delivered last week.

Temple Terrace, just east of Tampa, is one of three incorporated municipalities in Hillsborough County.

The city council had scaled back the $330 million plan after a referendum that would've raised approximately $20 million in a 1-mill increase of property taxes, was defeated by voters.

Under the new plan, the project is being separated into two phases that will construct a mixture of residential and retail in an area where a struggling shopping plaza now sits.

The second phase could still include civic buildings like a cultural arts center and a new city hall.

Planning will continue for several more months, city officials said, while a new framework for the redevelopment project is worked out.

Company officials said they will be able to produce a "viable project under the new conditions that have been established."

The total project is expected to take six years to complete.

New cost estimates were not available.

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