Council hears revised Stanbury plan for city‑owned site; councilors ask for more commercial and parking analysis

Developers from Stanbury Development Group presented a revised conceptual plan for the city‑owned parcel adjacent to Oldsmar City Hall on Tuesday, proposing 240 market‑rate rental units, about 10,000 square feet of retail and roughly $70 million in private investment.

The plan, presented by John Meyer and Mark Hayes of Stanbury Development Group, reduces building heights from prior renderings, keeps most open plazas public and eliminates a previously proposed parking garage. "This product here would be rental, not ownership," Mark Hayes said, adding the developer expects the apartments to be "priced at the top of the suburban market." John Meyer said the revised submission "contemplates 240 units" and noted Stanbury was not seeking bonus density.

Why it matters: the site sits at the center of downtown planning discussions that have run for years and was identified by council and many residents as a strategic parcel to catalyze retail, restaurants and public gathering space. Several residents told the council they want more ground‑floor commercial and questioned whether the reduced retail footprint would produce the activation the city expected when it marketed the property for redevelopment.

Developers’ proposal and what changed Stanbury’s revised plan keeps a visible public plaza at the point of Park Boulevard and Tampa Road, provides landscaped pedestrian connections through the site and places mixed retail at two corners. Meyer said the retail program is now about 10,000 square feet because the team reduced residential density and determined a parking deck was not financially feasible. "The project's $70,000,000," Meyer said. He also told the council that, under current assumptions, a parking garage would require either public financing or materially higher rents to be feasible: "If you build a parking garage, you aren't building a parking garage for less than $20,000 (per space)."

Public comments: support, skepticism and data requests Public commenters were sharply divided. Several residents criticized the presentation and the plan’s focus on rental housing. Jerry Beeville called the presentation "terrible" and said it gave him no confidence in the product. John Dorell, who identified himself as an economist, told councilors, "This is an apartment complex ... a private company searching for private profits on public land," and asked for the property's current appraised value and proposed sale price. Jason Sanders, Jackie Harrig and others asked whether units would be rentals or condominiums (Stanbury: "rental, not ownership"), whether the retail could support restaurants and how much of the green space would remain publicly accessible (Stanbury: plaza and walkway "open to the public," while pools and fitness facilities would be resident amenities).

Council discussion and direction Council members probed parking, retail sizing and building height. Several members said they preferred the earlier scheme presented a year ago because it showed more contiguous ground‑floor retail and a stronger "downtown" feel. Vice Mayor Graber withdrew a motion to approve the plan after extended discussion, and the council did not adopt the concept tonight.

Mayor Katie Gannon summarized the council's direction near the end of the discussion: staff should continue negotiations with Stanbury and explore tweaks that could restore more commercial space from the prior plan "to the extent that's economically feasible," while accounting for parking constraints. Council members repeatedly asked staff and Stanbury to return with refinements that seek to boost ground‑floor commercial or otherwise reconfigure the site to better support retail activation and public uses.

What is not decided No development agreement was approved and no final site plan was submitted. Stanbury representatives and city staff said any detailed site design, traffic and drainage engineering, final tenant mix, and rents would be part of later negotiations and permitting steps. A former parking deck shown in earlier plans is no longer in the developer’s conceptual submission; Stanbury said the absence reflects present cost and revenue assumptions rather than a permanent prohibition on structured parking.

Next steps and council expectations Council members instructed the city manager to continue negotiating with Stanbury and to return with updated concepts that attempt to add more commercial area or otherwise address council concerns about activation and parking. Several councilors suggested the city should revisit elements of the earlier (2024) concept when possible; others emphasized the need to balance residents’ preference for lower building heights with the site’s ability to support retail without large amounts of surface parking.

Documented figures and clarifications - Units proposed: 240 (Stanbury) - Retail proposed: about 10,000 square feet (Stanbury) - Projected private investment (developer's estimate): $70,000,000 - Building heights in revised plan: mostly 3–4 stories (Stanbury) - Parking deck: removed from revised concept (Stanbury)

Ending: The council did not vote on the concept plan. Instead, the council asked the city manager to continue talks with Stanbury Development Group and requested revised drawings and parking analyses that attempt to restore more commercial frontage or otherwise improve activation for the publicly owned site. Stanbury said it will return with additional renderings and engineering as negotiations progress.