Yuengling moving forward with big redevelopment of Tampa brewery property — without a hotel, for now
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Nov 16, 2020

D.G. Yuengling & Son is moving forward with a redevelopment of its Tampa brewery — though plans to add a hotel to the property will come in the second phase.

The brewery, based in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, held a "ceremonial" groundbreaking on Monday afternoon. Actual construction is slated to begin next month, said Jen Yuengling, the brewery's vice president of operations.

The Yuengling family acquired the Tampa brewery in 1999. The redevelopment comes as business and civic leaders try to rouse private sector interest in the area around the University of South Florida. While H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, the university and several other institutions are in the area, it has never reached its full development potential.

Yuengling said that the brewery has been a partner to USF for years, from the naming rights of the former Sundome to funding scholarships for the brewery arts program at the St. Petersburg campus.

"I think this is just the next step in that relationship," she said.

Tampa's Alliant Partners, led by Carlos Alfonso and Frank Capitano, is the developer of the project. Miller Bros. Construction Inc. is the general contractor, and Alfonso Architects designed the project.

Yuengling declined to disclose a total investment in the project or construction costs on the first phase.

Tampa City Council in October 2019 signed off on a rezoning request to make way for the redevelopment, which will add the following amenities to the brewery:

A 200-room, 140,000-square-foot hotel

12,700-square-foot restaurant

7,000-square-foot museum gift shop

5,500-square-foot microbrewery and/or tasting room of the same size

5,300-square-foot indoor/outdoor beer garden

5,900 square feet of conference/meeting space

The hotel, Yuengling said, is part of the project's second phase, set to begin construction after the first phase wraps up in early 2022. The family is considering bringing a restaurant operating partner on board, she said.