WestShore Plaza's big redevelopment plans sail through first city council approval
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Oct 9, 2020

Plans to transform WestShore Plaza's dark Sears box and sea of surface parking lots into a walkable, mixed-use development have received preliminary approval from Tampa City Council.

Council on Thursday unanimously approved the first reading of the redevelopment proposal. The ordinance to approve the rezoning will have a second reading for final approval on Nov. 5.

The redevelopment, proposed by mall owner Washington Prime Group, is among the largest redevelopment plans in the works in the Tampa Bay region. Here's a breakdown of the project in phases:

Phase 1
835 residential units
240-key hotel
120,000 square feet of medical office space
93,000 square feet of office space
45,000 square feet of retail space
30,000-square-foot grocer

Phase 2
649 residential units
31,000 square feet of retail, food and beverage space

Phase 3
281 residential units
149,000 square feet of office space
9,000 square feet of retail, food and beverage space

The redevelopment is a major departure from the current state of WestShore Plaza, which is an enclosed suburban-style shopping mall in the heart of an urban district. It would bring the live-work-play dynamic that developers are trying to create in Water Street, Midtown Tampa and the Westshore Marina districts to the Westshore business district.

"I am grateful for council’s support and am proud to be part of this transformative development," Kami Corbett, a partner at Hill Ward Henderson who represents Washington Prime Group, said in a statement.

A timeline for beginning construction isn't known.

"Planning is continuing for the mixed use redevelopment replacing the Sears space at WestShore Plaza, and details will be announced in the future," a spokeswoman for Ohio-based Washington Prime said in a statement Friday. "Washington Prime Group remains committed to executing a first class, mixed-use redevelopment project for the benefit of WestShore Plaza’s guests, tenants, community neighbors and partners.

Enclosed mall owners like Washington Prime have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, struggling to collect rent from restaurants and retailers that were shuttered by state and local orders. In mid-September, Washington Prime provided an update on its "healthy rent collection rate and leasing volume," touting that it had collected over 80 percent of expected rent for July and August and "believes these trends will continue to improve throughout the remainder of the year."