Tampa City Council okays $7.5 million sale of city block to hotel and apartment developer
By Richard Danielson
Tampa Bay Times
Published: Dec 15, 2016

TAMPA - The City Council voted Thursday to sell a vacant block next to City Hall to a New Orleans developer for $7.5 million.

HRI Properties plans to build a 21-story tower with a 223-room Hyatt Centric Hotel, 225 apartments and a 408-car garage. Seven thousand square feet of retail space in the tower will include a restaurant and a Starbucks.

"This is absolutely the highest and best use of a property like this," council member Harry Cohen said.

Construction is expected to start in August or September, with the $120 million project opening in early 2019.

The council vote was 6-to-1, with council chairman Mike Suarez voting no.

Suarez said he liked the project, but believed city officials should have done more before seeking bids to coordinate development of the property with a transit study expected to be done next year. The study, which is looking at possible expansions of the street car, and Suarez said the city missed an opportunity by not factoring the possibilities into the development plans for the block.

But council member Frank Reddick waiting for the transit study to be done might be irrelevant if federal transportation policy makes a sudden, sharp turn.

"We have no guarantees of what the transportation system is going to be like in this country in the next four years," he said. "Transit might not be part of a new administration. That's what I'm concerned about. We talk about more buses and rail. (President-elect Donald) Trump might come back and talk about go-carts."

Contact Richard Danielson at rdanielson@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3403. Follow @Danielson_Times