Bradenton takes ownership of GTE building for downtown redevelopment

By Lisa Neff

The city of Bradenton now owns a century-old building that could be transformed into a performing arts campus as part of a downtown redevelopment push.

The Bradenton City Council unanimously voted Sept. 9 to accept a deed from Manatee County, conveying the former GTE building at 1009 Fourth Ave. W., between 10th Street West and 12th Street West.

County commissioners, during a meeting a week earlier, unanimously approved the conveyance of the three-story property for $10.

The price might look small compared with the appraised value, $1,215,000, but elected officials at the city and county meetings agreed that the building has stood empty for years and needs a major renovation, a “heavy lift,” as County Commissioner George Kruse said.

City administrator Rob Perry estimated the renovation cost at $2.5 million to $3 million, with funding through the city’s community redevelopment agency.

The work includes bringing the 1920s structure up to code, along with installing windows, doors and an elevator shaft.

Local architect J.H. Johnson designed the building, which is listed in the Florida Master Site File. The site file listing says the structure once housed Peninsula Telephone Co. equipment and offices and is a “very good example of the Commercial Style of the mid 1920s.”

The city’s goal for the property is to “provide educational, workforce development, and community training opportunities, or other redevelopment activities,” according to a staff memo.

The city has been in talks with Point Park University, a Pittsburgh school specializing in the performing arts that is looking to establish a satellite campus.

Bradenton Mayor Gene Brown said Point Park initially could bring 250 students to downtown and, as it grows, the campus could generate $5 million to $10 million annually in economic activity.

A campus could open in fall 2027 and eventually grow to 1,000 students.

A reverter clause in the deed requires the property to serve education, workforce development or downtown redevelopment purposes within five years, or ownership returns to the county, which also holds a permanent easement to reach a parcel to the south.

At the county meeting, commissioners explored the property deal and the redevelopment goals.

Commissioner Bob McCann asked pointed questions about the building’s value, where students would come from and what happens once the five-year window closes, then backed the project.

“As long as it does benefit … Bradenton and benefits the people and the taxpayers, I’m OK with it,” he said.

Chair Tal Siddique said he came to the idea skeptical, then changed his mind after touring Point Park’s Pittsburgh campus and meeting with university leadership.

Kruse called an empty downtown building a poor use of a valuable asset and said filling it with a university — its students, faculty and performances — fits the county’s push against sprawl.

On the city side, Councilmember Lisa Gonzalez Moore asked Florida Cultural Group CEO Janine Amick to answer questions in open session about plans for the GTE property, a request Amick agreed to fulfill.

“The space that we hope that you guys are able to create, I can promise you would definitely be used,” she said, referring to abundant interest in cultural and performing arts space downtown. “There’s other people who are lined up who would also be able to use that space.”

Both the city council and the county commission framed the deed transfer as another positive collaboration in a series of partnerships.

“This is just another step in the county and the city working together for the betterment of Manatee County as a whole,” Kruse said. “We’re trying to help rejuvenate and renovate and build up downtown. … I’m more than happy to pass along this building to make that happen.”