Redevelopment of old doggy day care site in North Hyde Park faces city council vote
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Dec 10, 2020

A student housing developer's plans for a former doggy day care will go in front of city council on Thursday.

Reger Holdings LLC, based in West Seneca, New York, is planning to build a 500-bed, eight-story complex with 1,700 square feet of street-level retail space at 311 N. Newport Ave., which was most recently home to a doggy day care facility. The developer closed on the land in August, paying $5.4 million for 1.82 acres.

The property is just across the railroad tracks from the University of Tampa, at the intersection West Fig Street and Newport Avenue.

The new building, known as Reign Living at Newport and Fig, will include two floors of structured parking. Architects from Gensler's Tampa office designed the project with an emphasis on a pedestrian-friendly streetscape — and the potential for a less car-centric Tampa.

“Vehicular entries, balconies and retail are positioned to shift focus away from cars and develop West Fig as a bicycle/pedestrian-friendly street,” Noah Rollins, an architect in Gensler's Tampa office, said in a statement. “The garage employs flat concrete slabs with a future in mind where parking could be reduced and more street-level retail could be inserted.”

Tampa City Council will be considering a rezoning approval for the project. The rezoning application asks the city to waive the number of parking spaces required for such a project, reducing the required space for this project by 9 percent.

A general contractor for the project has not yet been selected.

The street-level retail space, Rollins said, will likely be home to a small food or beverage concept, like a coffee shop.