Anthony Martino

On Tuesday, December 13, Ybor City’s Barrio Latino Commission (BLC) will hold a public hearing regarding 1313. E. 8th Ave. in Ybor City — the current site of New World Brewery, a music venue, bar and restaurant frequented by locals and tourists alike.

UPDATE: Here is CL's story on the meeting where the BLC cleared the way for new development.

The meeting will be held at 9 a.m. EST at City Council Chambers on the third floor of Tampa city hall located at 315 E. Kennedy Blvd.

The BLC is responsible “preserving the historic fabric of the District and maintaining its architectural integrity” all while balancing the district’s “historic past with the growth of the present prosperity.”

In a November 7 story, CL addressed rumours of a closure at 1313 E. 8th Ave. by asking New World owner Steve Bird — along with property owners Ariel Quintela and Darryl Shaw — what the plans for the address were. Bird, 56, shared that he’s been on a month-to-month lease for about a year. Quintela did not respond before press time and Shaw, the CEO of the Tampa-based BluePearl Veterinary Partners chain, said via Carrie O’Brion (Blue Pearl’s communications manager) that “he doesn’t expect to have any definitive plans any time soon.” Ray Roa

Just days after CL’s story, a public notice mentioning “demolition of a non-contributing structure”was posted outside New World Brewery. Quintela, speaking with CL today, insists that he and his development partner, Shaw, are on the same page.

“I think what Darryl means is that plans and timelines always change considering the way permitting and the entire process goes,” Quintela, 58, said, “I’m confident that within the next year, we’ll have something started on the site.”

Meeting agendas provided by the city of Tampa say that, at the December 13 meeting regarding 1313 E. 8th Ave., Ybor Marti LLC (where Shaw is the registered agent) is asking for a parking variance and a certificate of appropriateness for the construction of a new four-story mixed use building (case no. BLC 16-141). Agendas also say that Ybor Marti LLC is asking for an ad valorem historic tax exemption (case no. BLC T17-02) which assists historic property owners in preserving, restoring and rehabilitating their properties.

CL is still waiting on minutes from a December 6 hearing where the Historic Preservation Commission addressed an application asking to change the status of a building on site (presumably the old firehouse that most recently held Red Room Recorders) to a “contributing structure” (petition no. 2016-3).

In short, tomorrow’s public hearings suggest that Ybor City Holdings LLC would like to get going on the plans they have for the block (read more below the comparison pictures below).

c/o Ariel Quintela

Anthony Martino

In CL’s story, Bird said he would rebuild no matter what happens. Quintela insists that he and Shaw don’t want New World to leave Ybor. He says that he and others have been actively offering Bird ideas on new locations within the district. Still, there’s irony in the prospect of uprooting one of the very things that have made the district the kind of place where people actually want to live and work. Predicting the future, or trying to see the good in the bad and vice versa, is about as easy as trying to bob for apples in a bucket of dirty mop water.

Still, there are some precedents to latch onto.

In 2015, the city of Austin, Texas — controversially considered to be the “live music capital of the world” — commissioned a census where data was culled together and analyzed to help give city officials, and the public at large, an idea about the health of their scene. The Austin Music Census is a 223-page behemoth packed with input from 3,968 musicians, industry workers and venue owners. The Austin Chronicle was blunt in their into to a piece about the study.

“Ask any grunt holding a guitar case and they'll tell you how the money's shit,” they wrote, “fans are fleeting, and the city's growth is choking out the club scene.” The 35 year old alternative weekly did end up pulling nice insights from the study (read here), and a deeper dive finds a big theme being affordability and cost of living edging out musicians and venues.

“Downtown development of relatively expensive condos and apartments are pushing low and middle-income artists and industry workers further out of the central City core,” the study said.

“There is some indication that musicians are beginning to move out of Austin altogether due to the cumulative effect of affordability issues,” it added.

Quintela understands the he is building in an entertainment district. He says his leases will make tenants aware that they are moving into an entertainment district. He promises that he and Shaw are in it for the long haul, and won’t be selling to make a quick profit. His Ybor residential developments will be first class, he says, even being built to absorb some of the sound that comes spilling off Seventh Avenue.

“We’re local guys trying to do what’s right,” Quintela said. He even acknowledges that as rents rise, artists do end up leaving the core seeking more affordable options and “opportunity in areas where rent isn’t as high.”

How much more can music venues and musicians endure though?

The industry as a whole is just now beginning to come out of the poop chute it dove into as it began to address the digital revolution. Streaming revenues are abysmal, and many artists count gigs as their main source of music-related income. And that’s not counting folks employed by the venues. The Austin census said 93 percent of venues employ full time or equivalent staff, with 67 percent of these establishments employing six or more people full-time. Additionally, 29 percent of venue respondents provide more than 20 full-time jobs.

“Live music venues provide a higher percentage of income to Austin’s musicians than any other single category of revenue,” the study said.

Numbers on Tampa Bay’s music jobs and income for musicians is unclear at press time, and they deserve to be explored, but the Bay area has an opportunity to have a conversation about what we’re doing to protect venues before it’s too late. And to be clear, Tampa Bay is not Austin, but we’re alike in our belief that arts are an integral part of our growing into a world-class city — the question is to what extent will we act like we actually believe that?

In Austin, where Mayor Steve Adler is trying to stimulate local music growth, many feel like it’s too late. Artists have fled the city’s core and are setting up elsewhere. John Dee Graham, a working-class Austin musician who played with Alejandro Escovedo, has wondered out loud about whether the town even “gives a f*** anymore.” Some point out that the 1950s found Austin rallying behind that claim of being the live music capital of the world as the city’s Eastside clubs were demolished. In a May story by the Chronicle, Dr. James Polk — who was once a bandleader for Ray Charles — said that it’s all just gone from “bad to worse.”

Many say that Tampa’s best days are purportedly still ahead of it, but how much of our modern cultural fabric are we going to be willing to give up before we find out?