New Port Richey city leaders have picked a private developer to start talks on the old Main and Bank Building site downtown, a project estimated at $22.4 million that would lean on a sizable public contribution.

The city’s Community Redevelopment Agency, made up of City Council members, voted at a special meeting Oct. 26 to rank the Main Street Reserve proposal first. The Cotee, from Sterett Holdings, placed second, followed by Brainstorms Science Discovery Center and the Museum of Archaeology, Paleontology and Science, known as MAPS.

Main Street Reserve LLC proposes a multi-story hospitality, culinary, and events destination. It would include a Grand Hall conference and events center on the second floor, a 160-seat ground-floor restaurant called Hearth & Cellar, an upscale rooftop lounge, and possible retail, office, and residential space.

The project also includes a city-owned, 285-stall smart parking garage with 7,500 square feet of ground-floor retail and a rooftop solar panel canopy. A second phase could add a skywalk linking the garage to the main facility.

Of the $22.4 million total, the proposal calls for the CRA to contribute just over $3.9 million.

City Manager Debbie Manns said staff will now enter a “due diligence” stage with the developer to negotiate terms. If the terms hold up, she said, the city would consider an economic development package and present it to the CRA along with proposed agreements. The process could take up to 120 days. If no deal is reached, the CRA could revisit The Cotee.

Five applicants pitched the city-owned property earlier in October. Quamitry Labs Inc. withdrew its Signal House application before the Oct. 26 vote.

Several residents backed the Brainstorms proposal at the earlier meeting. CRA members said the Harry Schwettman Education Center, the original Gulf High School building on Grand Boulevard, would suit Brainstorms or MAPS better because of its indoor and outdoor space. Manns said no redevelopment is underway there, and the city hopes to craft a reuse plan once it resolves environmental remediation concerns.

Brainstorms said after the vote that it plans to keep pursuing a permanent home in New Port Richey. “We didn’t propose a science discovery center downtown simply because we needed a building,” said Daisy Thomas, the group’s board vice president. “We proposed it because we believe children and families belong at the center of our community’s future.”

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