Lowe's seen as key to revival

The corner of Cortez Road and 14th Street is now little more than a sea of asphalt.

BRADENTON -- The jumble of stores and restaurants at the northwest corner of Cortez Road and 14th Street West is an urban planner's nightmare.

Much of the architecturally uninspiring, and mostly barren, complex dates to the 1960s -- before Manatee County enacted stricter requirements for landscaping, roadway buffers and site plans.

It's now mostly parking lot, what county planners describe as "a sea of asphalt," with no shrub in sight and no pond to catch the rain.

Yet Lefmark-BVT Bradenton, a company associated with BVT Development Corp. of Atlanta, sees a renaissance for that commercial corner -- a new development anchored by a Lowe's home improvement store.

"We're very excited about it," said Betsy Benac, a planner working for Lefmark-BVT. "We think it's going to be a good project."

The county Planning Commission intended to review redevelopment plans for the 27-acre site on Thursday. But Lefmark-BVT and county planners asked for a delay until Jan. 9, so they can continue talking about the design of berms or walls to separate the complex from a residential neighborhood on its north side.

Although the details aren't worked out, county officials regard the proposal as a positive sign for the community redevelopment district they created last month for the troubled stretch of 14th Street between Cortez Road and the Bradenton city limits.

Lefmark-BVT's proposal is the first redevelopment plan suggested for that zone. And it could boost the tax base by millions of dollars.

As property values rise because of Lefmark-BVT's new construction, the extra taxes will be funneled back into the district to pay for improvements that will make the entire neighborhood "more stable and habitable," county planner Leon Kotecki said.

Kmart, Rooms to Go, Leoni's Pizzeria, Goodyear and Don Olsen Tire stores will remain in the area. Lesco Landscape and Sparks Automotive are to relocate. Several vacant and boarded houses off 38th Avenue West will be demolished.

A car repair garage and a 135,744-square-foot Lowe's home improvement store will be built where a battered, vacant shopping plaza stood until it was demolished a few years ago.

The new structures will include parapets, facades or other features to stagger the roof lines and avoid the box-like look of typical commercial development.

The number of driveways off 14th Street will be reduced from eight to three. And the number of driveways off Cortez Road will be reduced from five to two.

Numerous free-standing and neglected signs will be removed.

Pedestrian walkways and a bus stop will be included in the new development, and sidewalks built along 14th Street and Cortez Road.

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