Council directs attorney to draft Stanbury town‑center development agreement after public outreach

Council members on Tuesday directed the city attorney to prepare a development agreement with Stanbury Development Group for roughly eight acres of city‑owned property in Oldsmar's Community Redevelopment Area.

City staff read a detailed outline of the "essential terms" for the project and summarized public outreach. "We had a total of 87 people attend the three open houses and 64 of those attendees submitted comment cards," the city representative said, noting that 36 respondents (56%) indicated they were strongly supportive. Council members praised the public engagement and the staff presentation.

The terms presented include a $2,000,000 purchase price for the property; completion security equal to 110% of estimated improvement costs; a 20% maintenance security to indemnify the city against latent defects for 18 months after acceptance; and a nonrefundable deposit of $200,000 paid at execution (with $100,000 currently held in escrow to be applied toward that deposit). The presentation also stated that at initial lease‑up the developer will ensure at least 30% of commercial tenants are food retailers and that residential units will be market rate, ineligible for local tax incentives reflected in a restrictive covenant.

Council moved, seconded and approved by voice vote to direct the city attorney to reduce the essential terms to contractual form for further consideration. The council did not adopt a final agreement Tuesday; the action authorizes staff to prepare the contract for a future meeting.