Buying out the Ardent Mills flour mill in downtown Tampa is Water Street's biggest milestone yet
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Oct 28, 2018

It's been a whirlwind year for Water Street Tampa - the official beginning of vertical construction for the JW Marriott, the rebirth of Channelside Bay Plaza as Sparkman Wharf - but the acquisition of the Ardent Mills property might be the district's biggest milestone yet.

Strategic Property Partners, the developer of Water Street, on Friday announced it had acquired a piece of property in downtown Tampa that has been closely watched for years: Three acres belonging to the Ardent Mills flour mill, which will be relocated. The flour mill, a functioning industrial plant, was once speculated as a potential site for a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium; in the early days of SPP's plans, when the developer was buying up land around Amalie Arena, the mill was thought of as a potential roadblock to future development.

SPP, controlled by Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik and Cascade Investment LLC, paid more than $13 million for the property, adding it to the more than 50 acres it already controls between downtown Tampa and the Channel district. At the same time, the city of Tampa has has secured the rights to connect Cumberland Avenue from Meridian Avenue to Brorein Avenue. As of November 2020, the flour mill will terminate its leasing rights to the rail spur south of Cumberland Avenue.

The road connection is important; the entire foundation of Water Street is a reconfigured street grid that transforms the moribund gravel parking lots surrounding the arena into a walkable, pedestrian-scale neighborhood.

But the deal SPP and the city have struck with the flour mill is about building more than a new road: It removes a physical and mental barrier between the Channel district and central business district.

While the Channel district is an easy walk from the central business district, it is neither a pleasant nor comfortable walk. Tourists, conventiongoers and Channel district residents walking on Meridian Avenue face a conundrum: With a panoramic view of the skyline, downtown is clearly close by, but there's no clear way to get there. With the flour mill out of the literal picture - and new sidewalks to guide the way - the Channel district and city center will finally be connected.

"Restoring a downtown street network has been a priority of ours since we initially envisioned the creation of this transformative neighborhood, and the Cumberland crossing is an important milestone," SPP CEO James Nozar said in a statement. "With the acquisition of the property, we can now look toward the future and plan for additional points of connection for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists.”

Water Street was moving forward with or without the flour mill property; the road grid construction has been under way for more than two years, and the University of South Florida's Morsani College of Medicine already rises 13 stories above the rest of the forthcoming district.

But with the acquisition of the mill property, downtown Tampa looks closer than ever to becoming a truly walkable urban neighborhood.