old west tampa rising
Mr. Bill(crossposted at TampaGold)
The City Council has approved required zoning changes in West Tampa, clearing the way for the renovation of the Ft. Homer Hesterly Armory as Heritage Square.
For over a year, efforts to put all the pieces of the puzzle together to redevelop the property have been moving along. Government bureaucracy is notoriously slow, but imagine dealing with a City Administration, the City Council, National Guard leaders, and more. It has been a daunting task for everyone involved. The unanimous vote of the City Council affirmed the excitement, energy, and challenge of the Heritage Square project.
Tampa was fortunate to have a number of attractive bidders for the 10+ acre site, but after much discussion and public input, the overwhelming depth of purpose of Intelident’s Heritage Square clearly prevailed. Almost every major business leader in Old West Tampa has turned out to support the project.
Eventually, estimates suggest over 2,000 jobs will be created, and the project will have a total economic impact of over $250 million a year. Listen in on our conversation with Intelident/Heritage Square CEO, Tom Marler on TimeOutTampa. Of course, that impact will not be significantly felt until late 2009 at the earliest. But there is a lot more to the story of Old West Tampa than just Heritage Square.
Along with the Armory redevelopment approval, two additional zoning requests were presented for the immediate area - one for an organic tea and coffee location and one for a renovated office space. Intown Homes and Castillo Homes have already built over 200 new homes in the area. More than 300 townhomes and condo units are underway in the section between Howard and the University of Tampa, north of Kennedy and South of the Interstate. WalMart has announced plans to build a new store at the former Save Rite location in the same area. And the Tampa Museum of Art will be temporarily locating to North Howard Avenue, just a few blocks north of the Interstate.
With over 96,000 square feet of retail space, over 300 hotel rooms, and 850 parking spaces, there is no question that Heritage Square will definitely impact the North Howard, North Hyde Park, and Old West Tampa areas. But you can clearly see that change is already well underway to this very central part of Tampa. And all of this in during an unclear business climate. Imagine what it will be like when the economy improves.
TampaGold has been crying from the rooftops about the Armory project for over a year and all of these changes in this area. If you haven’t yet noticed the improvements, just wait; the best is yet to come.
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