Tampa commission finds Davis Islands house eligible for local landmark designation, agrees owners demonstrated economic hardship after 2024 storms

The City of Tampa Historic Preservation Commission on May 13 determined that 418 Blanca Avenue, a Mediterranean Revival house on Davis Islands listed in the National Register of Historic Places, meets the city’s local landmark criteria and that making it a local landmark would subject the owners to economic hardship because of extensive hurricane damage and the cost of required flood adaptation.

Staff presented the demolition review and landmark-eligibility analysis under City of Tampa code, and lawyers and experts for the owners described insurance claims, independent adjuster estimates and elevation costs. After public comment, the commission voted to confirm the administrator’s finding that the structure is of architectural significance, to recommend local landmark designation to City Council, and to grant the owners’ application that a designation would cause economic hardship.

Staff Historic Preservation Manager Dennis Fernandez told the commission the review is required by section 27-260 of the City of Tampa code for buildings 50 years or older; staff found the property individually eligible because it was listed in the National Register as part of the Mediterranean Revival multiple properties listing for Davis Islands.

Owner representatives said two hurricanes in fall 2024 caused extensive damage. Attorney Michael Brooks described the family’s circumstances and said the owners had been living in a partial second-floor occupancy while trying to decide how to proceed. He said the owners purchased the home in October 2022 and have invested heavily in improvements since then.

Economic expert Hank Fishkind, Ph.D., told the commission he concluded the cost to repair and to meet required flood-elevation standards would exceed the home’s market value. As Fishkind put it on the record: “Denial of the permit, in my view, would create an economic hardship and inordinate burden pursuant to ‘20 7 2 50 9.”

The Sampsons’ materials in the record included two independent adjuster reports (tab G in the application packet) that found roughly $268,000 in insurable damage from Hurricane Helene and about $301,000 from Hurricane Milton, for a combined insurable-loss estimate of about $569,690.18. The applicants also submitted an estimate of about $73,255 to repair an accessory “boathouse” structure; the boathouse damage was not covered by the insurance estimates.

Fishkind and counsel described likely flood-adaptation costs if the structure must be elevated to meet FEMA or lender expectations. Fishkind said raising the house to the FEMA-based finished-floor elevation would push repair-plus-mitigation costs above $1 million in their analysis, exceeding the property’s assessed improvement value used in the owner’s submission ($902,879). Counsel also told the commission the owners face a mortgage balance in the roughly $3,000,000 range and monthly payments near $15,000.

Resident and former owner-family member Leroy Collins III addressed the commission during public comment and urged preservation. Collins said his parents owned the property for nearly 50 years and had pursued National Register listing in 1989. He told commissioners that, despite damage to outbuildings, “the main house itself stood strong.”

Commission action came in three linked steps provided for in the hearing: (1) confirm the administrator’s finding under the demolition-review code that the property meets the National Register/listing threshold; (2) make a local landmark designation recommendation to City Council under section 27-257; and (3) determine whether the owner met the code standard for economic hardship under section 27-259. The commission voted in favor of all three steps. The motions passed with no recorded opposition.

The commission’s staff report and testimony stressed that the hardship determination rests on the property-specific cost and value evidence submitted and on the testimony of the applicants’ experts; staff’s administrator recommended additional supporting documentation be entered into the record if available (insurance-payments status, detailed elevation contract bids and structural evaluations) but the commission found the submitted evidence sufficient to sustain the hardship finding for this property.

Next steps: the local landmark designation recommendation is forwarded to City Council for final action under the code; the economic-hardship finding, if carried through the administrative process, would allow the demolition permit process to proceed under administrator review (per the code path described at the hearing). The record shows the owner submitted a timely economic-hardship application on March 14, 2025, and the commission’s finding will be part of the packet sent to Council and to administrative staff for any follow-up conditions or required documentation.