Lincoln Property planning 400 apartments north of Straz Center in downtown Tampa
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Mar 20, 2015

A Dallas developer is planning a new apartment complex on the northern fringe of Tampa's urban core.

Lincoln Property Co. is in talks with the city to build a 408-unit, five-story apartment building north of the David A. Straz Jr. Center for Performing Arts, on a surface parking lot adjacent to the Barrymore Hotel. The land is owned by New Jersey-based Denholtz Associates, according to county property records.

Named the Aspire, the complex would have six stories of parking with 866 spaces, according to plans Michael Callahan, the city's urban design coordinator, presented to Tampa Bay Real Estate Investment Council Inc. on Wednesday.

It would also include a 9,000-square-foot clubhouse and 3,600 square feet of retail space, according to the plans.

Lincoln has been building Aspire-branded communities around the Southeast, including a 279-unit project in Nashville and a property in Orlando.

It would be the second multifamily development in the area surrounding the Straz - Tampa developers Framework Group and Intown Group will partner with Miami-based American Land Ventures on a 350-unit tower directly adjacent to the arts center.

Residential development, revitalization advocates say, is key to building the live-work-play paradigm that Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn and other city leaders champion as key to attracting millennials. The residential developments will create a customer base for retail and restaurants and could help lure more companies to the area.

Ashley Gurbal Kritzer is a reporter for the Tampa Bay Business Journal.