A New York-based development company released plans today for the $500 million project near Westshore.
Tampa Bay is booming right now. We’ve got Sundial in St. Pete. Tampa’s Channelside is transforming into Water Street. And now there’s talk of a new district for you to check out.
Bromley Companies, in charge of a Tampa project years in the making, is taking first steps to installing the 1.8 million-square-foot, mixed-use project. The long-awaited project which used to be called Tampa Bay One has been renamed Midtown Tampa.
A longtime investor in the Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corporation, Bromley Cos. purchased the 22-acre property near the I-275 and Dale Mabry Highway interchange in the late 1990s. The site once pitched as the new ballpark for the Tampa Bay Rays is now slated to be one of the biggest developments in Tampa Bay.
Mayor Bob Buckhorn says it has potential to bring a huge boost to the economy.
“It’s exactly the kind of quality development you want here in your community,” he said. “It’s huge. Not only is it half billion dollars of investment, but more importantly it connects the dots between a growing downtown Tampa and the Westshore district.”
Buckhorn says the end result could be similar to Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood. “If you look at Atlanta and Buckhead as sort of a model, not everyone wants to be downtown and not everyone can fit in the Westshore district, but this is an opportunity to create a mini-city between the two.”
Bromley is planning to break ground for Midtown Tampa in 2019, and complete the project by 2021.
Color renderings released Wednesday show a plan that would include 240,000 square feet of retail space, 750,000 square feet of office space, 400 condo or apartment spaces, a 225-room hotel and four acres of public spaces.
While commercial spaces haven’t been filled, Bromley is said to be in talks with Whole Foods Market Inc. for a relocation, as well as a movie theater.
“Our vision is to inspire a transformative, truly walkable district connecting downtown Tampa and Westshore business district,” Nicholas Haines, Bromley CEO, told the Tampa Bay Business Journal in a statement. “The site will be recognized for its dynamic combination of office, retail, hotel, and four-acre pedestrian-friendly public spaces.”
Mayor Buckhorn says the timing of the project couldn’t be better.
“Now with the market booming, Tampa is creating more jobs than anywhere else in the state of Florida for three out of the last six years, young people flocking back into this community, companies are relocating here and the retail plus restaurant mix really has put Tampa on the map. So they’re smart to start moving dirt now. It’s an ideal time to break ground,” he said.
The project is slated to be finished by for the next Super Bowl in Tampa, February 2021.
According to the Tampa Bay Business Journal, Tampa City Council will hold a public hearing on Bromley’s rezoning request for the property on April 12.
The company has garnered additional acreage since plans were approved, causing the need for rezoning.
