1211 Tampa Street

There is a little 3 story building situated on Tampa Street just South of the State Administration building.  It is boarded up and painted over and it appears that the first floor street side has received a rather odd treatment over the years. It is probably one of the oldest buildings left on a stretch of Tampa between the interstate and Twiggs.  The property appraiser lists 1925 as the date this structure was built, however the building shows up in the 1915 Sandborn map online.  It is listed as a Grocer's Warehouse with apartments above.  Below, you can see the building as it was in the 20s (the 3 story building with the balcony).  The little building that currently abuts it to the South was built in the early 50s. The building of the interstate and then the State Building to the immediate North contributed to a decline in the immediate area.  However, this area is seeing a resurgence.  I look at the 1211 Tampa building and see potential, it is fortunate that it has survived through the years.

 

The immediate area along N. Franklin, including this building, was listed as a National Historic District several years ago.  Many of the buildings listed have already been renovated and repurposed, like Fly Bar and the Arlington apartment block.  But, a listing on the National Register does not mean that the building is protected.  I assume that the main reason no one has bought and restored the 1211 Tampa building is that the lot line follows the building with only about 10 additional feet in the rear (see aerial layout from the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser's website below).  This leaves no room for parking. 

Balbin Bros. Cigar Factory In Trouble

Is the 1904 Cigar Factory at 1202 N. Howard in trouble?  I drove by the building last night and saw that the front overhang is now crumbling apart.  Is this to be a sign of things to come?  Bought in 2006 by Intellident, it was to have been rehabbed in similar fashion to the Berrimen-Morgan factory up the street and become the companies new office.  But it seems to have became a victim of the downturn.  This building is not designated locally as a landmark or on the National Register.  However, it is within the West Tampa National Historic District.  Doing a google search, Intellident has a history of the building located on their website. 

Great map and list of the remaining factory buildings in Tampa:  http://www.cigarsoftampa.com/tpa-factoriesmap.html

Gator Preservationist post on our unprotected cigar factories, including the Balbin Bros.:  http://gatorpreservationist.wordpress.com/2011/06/05/cigar-factories-of-tampa-part-2/

401 E. Washington

Sometimes a building just excites, and the little building at 401 E. Washington in Downtown Tampa is such a building.  Situated on the corner of Florida and Washington, the building is surrounded by parking garages and skyscrapers, right on the edge of the Southern downtown parking lot wasteland.  You've probably driven by it dozens of times.  It's usually open and lit at night, as you speed by you notice a spiral staircase leading up into the ceiling of the first.  It just seems like an abandoned building spending its last days waiting for something else to come along.  However, the building has been blessed with longevity despite recent turns in the downtown real estate market.

401 E. Washington was built in 1946 as built by a growing Ferman Motor Co. as the Ferman Olds sales and Chevrolet service center.  It was directly across Washington from the original Ferman Chevrolet motor sales and service building on Jackson and Marion (You can see 401 Washington peeking out behind the Jackson building in the picture above).  In the early days of the last century, just as with other major retailers, most automobile showrooms were placed in downtown shopping districts.  The building is three floors, with a small showroom nestled into the Northwest corner of the building.  The rest of building is open garage and service areas.  As you can see in the picture above, one would just drive right into the service area on the first floor.  A steep ramp in the center of the building takes you up to the second floor level, not sure if this level was more service or for car storage. (More pictures and narrative after the jump)

Tampa's "Oldest" House in peril

It seems that historic preservation advocates are on top of things lately.  The story of the threatened status of Tampa's "Oldest" known house has been popping up all over the place lately.  As much as I am an advocate for historic preservation, I wanted to check more into the facts of the story as all causes are subject to sensationalism these days.  Plus I don't always trust the dates of houses shown by the property appraisers office.  The image above is from Google Earth and will be used as a comparison for the house's layout.  Now off to the trusty Tampa Library's Sanborn maps site to do some investigation.  Supposedly, Tampa's current oldest house, at 3210 E Eighth Ave. (shown above), was originally built on the Southeast corner of the City Hall block at Jackson and Florida in 1842.  The current City hall building was built in 1915.