SOUTH TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) — The Wahnish Cigar Factory is a step closer to becoming a 73-unit multi-family apartment complex after the Development Review Committee granted conditional approval Monday.
WATCH FULL REPORT BELOW:
But the land can't be cleared just yet.
The Tampa-based developers, 908 Group, still need to address issues like utility services and sidewalk design.
They also need to get a certificate of appropriateness — specifically required for "historically significant" properties — for demolition.
Commissioners paused demolition in September.
That's after concerns were raised about the Architectural Review Board's initial vote to demolish the site in April.
Researcher Max Epstein has since filed an ethics complaint, saying in an Oct. 19 email that he's not trying to stop the project.
"A saved front is not a saved landmark. Once the factory is gone, it cannot be brought back," Epstein wrote in the email.
"There have been some additional issues that have been brought to our attention and we are in the process of researching those as well," City Attorney Amy Toman said at the Oct. 21 city commission meeting.
Bob Holladay, president of the Tallahassee Historical Society, believes the building should be preserved as a different space but says no one has yet stepped up.
"A conditional approval is still an approval. There are other steps and I wish I were more optimistic about it ultimately being saved, but I'm really not unless somebody really steps up with some creative ideas," Holladay said.
City Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox is hoping to work with all parties, meeting with community members, the city attorney and developer attorneys, to find common ground.
"What I would like to do is to ask this commission to give me an opportunity to work with those entities, all of those parts, and see if we can't come to some type of resolution to that we all can live with," Williams-Cox said during the last commission meeting.
I reached out to the developers through a form on their website for comment on the approval and to ask if they could put me in contact with their attorneys but haven't heard back yet.
Williams-Cox hopes to come to a resolution by the next commission meeting in November or by the end of the year.
"It could be a real tourist and other, you know, venue to attract people, and I know everybody's worried about money here now," Holladay said. "This is a way that's just begging, begging for someone to step in and take advantage of it, and I hope they will. I hope somebody will."
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Want to see more local news? Visit the WTXL ABC 27 Website.
Stay in touch with us anywhere, anytime.
