Tampa's growth keeps popping with new projects throughout downtown, Westshore
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Aug 5, 2022

The Place at Channelside

The second phase of The Place at Channelside is showing signs of life: The developer that bought the vacant lot adjacent to the property on Channelside Drive in 2020 has proposed a 32-story tower with 280 multifamily units and 4,555 square feet of street-level commercial space.

Why it matters: The first phase of The Place was the poster child for failed real estate deals in the Great Recession era when it was completed in 2008. It operated as a fractured condominium for years before being converted to single-ownership units. Now, the second phase is moving forward, adding more density to the property.

Tampa Heights redevelopment

A Tampa real estate developer has struck a deal with the city’s oldest preschool, making way for a new mixed-use development on the preschool’s property.

Loci Capital is under contract to acquire the 2.7-acre parcel at 1505 N. Florida Ave., which has been home to A Brighter Community Inc. for 70 of the school’s 100 years of existence. In the preschool’s place, Loci Capital envisions 490 multifamily units and 15,000 square feet of retail space along North Florida Avenue. The units will be built in two seven-story towers connected by a sky bridge over Marion Street.

Why it matters: Infill projects like this can help close the gap between downtown’s River Arts district and Tampa Heights. Loci is working on a similar project at Florida and Oak avenues.

23-story tower for student housing tower near University of Tampa

The developers of The Henry in downtown Tampa have proposed another student housing tower in the urban core — this time near Oxford Exchange.

Development Ventures Group and Intown Group have proposed a 23-story, 192-unit tower at 110 S. Boulevard, which is currently home to a Bank OZK branch. The developers have included a 2,871-square-foot bank branch on the ground floor of the tower.

The site is just under 1 acre. It is directly south of the former University Inn, which a developer converted to student housing last year.

Why it matters: This neighborhood, on the periphery of downtown Tampa, has long lacked density. High-rise residential towers add the density a neighborhood this close to the urban core should have.

Big deal for MetWest III

Tampa software company Mad Mobile has signed a long-term sublease to take over some of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ former real estate in the Westshore business district.

Mad Mobile is taking over floors nine and 10 — a total of 53,272 square feet — in MetWest III, part of the mixed-use MetWest International district near International Plaza. It also has an option to expand to the eighth floor, said Brandan Rabdau, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Mad Mobile.

Michael Fisher, senior managing director at Savills US, and Robert Teachey, corporate managing director at Savills, represented Mad Mobile in the transaction. CBRE Group Inc. senior vice presidents Ryan Reynolds and Bill Obregon represented PwC as the sublessor.

Why it matters: PwC’s real estate has been closely watched since the Big Four accounting firm transitioned most of its employees to remote work in 2021. The floors that Mad Mobile will take over hadn’t yet been built out for PwC when the pandemic hit — the tower wrapped up construction in 2019. Mad Mobile says it will invest $20 million in the space.