Urban Resort Part II

by Bob Andelman • bob@andelman.com

Universities and Colleges

The University of South Florida's campus in St. Petersburg went into extreme makeover overdrive when there were political rumblings about declaring independence from the school's Tampabased administration. That move was appeased - for now - with more local decision making in the form of USF St. Petersburg's first regional chancellor, Karen A. White, and a series of dramatic announcements that expanded the campus from upper-level and post-graduate coursework to four-year degree programs.

"A few years ago we were made fiscally autonomous," says White. "Now we have academic autonomy. And we are applying for independent accreditation as well."

A commitment was also made to convert the commuter school - which celebrates its 40th anniversary in September - to a residential campus. The first of three residence halls, a seven-story, 354-apartment building, broke ground earlier this year.

Another new building generating excitement not only on campus but in the greater community is the deceptively simple name "Parking Center One." Its 1,100 parking spaces aside, the deck is already better known for its tenant, Barnes & Noble College Booksellers.

"Everybody loves a bookstore," White says. "It makes a nice business corridor with Publix. This is an optimal time for St. Petersburg's downtown vitality and for our vitality. As we look at adding residential students in fall 2006, one of the attractions is a truly urban setting. For students, this is a great intersection of campus and community."

Next up for USF St. Petersburg is a $30-million science and technology center. Planned for a site near the U.S. Geological Services (Studebaker Building), it will be a joint use facility to be shared with the burgeoning marine science department. That will be followed by new buildings for the College of Business and a student center.

USF St. Petersburg isn't the only fouryear college in downtown any more, however, and it is just one of three schools in the city proper. St. Petersburg College (SPC) also grew its program in recent years from two-year associates degrees to offering bachelor's degrees. And this fall, students will begin attending classes in the school's $4.7-million, 31,000-square-foot Downtown Center on Second Avenue N. (Part of the first floor will be shared by the Florida International Museum.) The Downtown Center's projected enrollment for Fall 2005 is 1,200.

SPC is also involved in the new Johnnie Ruth Clarke Health Center at the historic Mercy Hospital on 22nd Street South. The college provides dental services on site in conjunction with the University of Florida Dental School. And SPC's Midtown Center learning site, in the St. Petersburg Housing Authority's Center for Achievement, is part of the Midtown/22nd Street redevelopment initiative being promoted by Mayor Rick Baker and spearheaded by Deputy Mayor Goliath Davis.

In south St. Petersburg, Eckerd College's newest completed development, The Peter H. Armacost Library, opened in January. The $15-million, 55,000- square-foot project is the first phase of a 15- to 20-year master plan that will eventually transform the school. The new library offers over 400 seats, enough to accommodate one-fourth of the student body; 58 computer stations, all with wireless access; capacity for 250,000 volumes and 13,000 journals; and a computer center that provides students with 24-hour access.

"We know what we want to be and we know how big," says Eckerd College President Donald R. Eastman. We're looking at being between 1,950 and 2,000 students. We think it will take us about 10 years to get to that size. That's usually the upward limit of most liberal arts colleges; 1,500 is the average. We expect to have 1,700 this fall. We've always had the ambition to be one of the best liberal arts schools in the U.S."

Hospitals

In the 1960s, it was unusual enough to have a hospital dedicated to the needs of children, let alone think that the needs of ailing kids might require a different approach than adults to hospitalization.

Four decades later, All Children's Hospital decided the time was right for a different approach to housing its patients and their families. In fact, the time is apparently right for not just a new concept but an entirely new hospital. So in October, construction will begin on an all-new, $294-million All Children's.

"Forty years ago," says hospital president and CEO. "People saw us as friendly, compassionate … but dated. People want the availability of technologies and capabilities specific to their problems. Their perception looking at our place was that it was dated. We have all the best technology inside, but people weren't going to come here because of the appearance of the facility. We wanted the exterior to reflect the interior."

As a result, the hospital brought its look forward, even accessorizing its roof with a blue cap that has become its trademark. It is also visible to anyone searching by car for St. Anthony's.

With Bayfront handling most trauma cases and All Children's getting the youngsters, St. Anthony's is staking out a niche in specific types of care, including cancer, strokes, G/I and cardiac. In March, the hospital began construction on a 50,000-square-foot, stateof- the-art heart center. The three-story outpatient facility will be connected to the hospital by a pedestrian bridge. It will be completed in early 2006.

St. Anthony's also expanded its brand by opening a 145,000-square-foot outpatient facility in the Carillon corporate center across from Raymond James & Associates.

Commercial, Corporate and Industrial

The new Progress Energy Florida headquarters building will be the first new downtown St. Petersburg office complex in more than 15 years. It will consolidate 670 employees from multiple Pinellas County locations into one headquarters complex.

"We've been a part of this community for more than 100 years," says company spokesman Aaron Perlut. "And we want to be a significant part of downtown's future. We think our new complex will provide immediate and long-term value to St. Petersburg and to us it will provide immediate savings on facilities cost."

That's the good news for Progress Energy. The good news for the city is that Progress Energy is also developing the adjacent Westin Grand Bohemian Hotel and Residences, which will complete the facelift of an entire city block. And in vacating its present downtown facility, once known as the South Core retail center and parking garage, Progress Energy opens up an approximately 200,000-squarefoot space originally designed to host an upscale department store.

The new 16-story Progress Energy office complex will include nine stories and 200,000 square feet of office space, a plaza level with 5,000 square feet of retail space and a six-level parking deck with more than 340 spaces. Progress Energy expects to take occupancy in November 2006.

Other corporate developments of note in St. Petersburg:

• Bay News 9 relocated its studios - and 100 of 126 employees - from Pinellas Park to 23,000 square feet in the new Bright House Networks building in the Carillon Center. When Bay News 9 began in September 1997, it was a single, 24-hour news channel. Today, it is the umbrella name for four networks (Bay News 9, Bay News 9 En Espanol, Travel Weather Now and Tampa Bay On Demand) and a Web site. "It's phenomenal for us, right next to Interstate 275," says Vice President & General Manager Elliott Wiser. "We're right over the line from Clearwater, Pinellas Park and St. Petersburg and across the bridge from Tampa. For news coverage, it's a perfect location."

• Accenture is another relocation to Carillon Park, bringing 425 employees from downtown St. Petersburg's McNulty Station.

• First Advantage Corporation, a risk mitigation firm, renamed its insurance fraud investigative subsidiary, Omega Insurance Services Inc., to First Advantage Investigative Services. First Advantage, headquartered in St. Petersburg, has more than 2,300 employees in offices throughout the U.S. and abroad. Formed in June of 2003, the company has since acquired 26 companies in a variety of industries.