Castor exploring convention center expansion in downtown Tampa
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer & Henry Queen
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Oct 27, 2022

Tampa is exploring an expansion of its downtown convention center — and one possibility is a mixed-use development that includes increased exhibit space for conventioneers as well as luxury condominiums and affordable housing.

Mayor Jane Castor confirmed that the city has had conversations around an expanded convention center but said the project is in its infancy. She said the square footage of the potential expansion is still under discussion but that increasing the city's exhibit space would allow it to better compete with Fort Lauderdale, its main competitor within Florida, for larger conventions.

One expansion to the Tampa Convention Center is already underway as part of an ongoing $38 million capital improvement plan that kicked off in October 2020. In this phase, 18 new waterfront meeting rooms spanning two stories and 18,000 square feet are being added to the convention center. The new meeting rooms are expected to open in June 2023.

But it isn't enough, Castor said, particularly when it comes to exhibition space. The current convention center has 200,000 square feet of exhibit space and a maximum capacity of 17,000. The Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center has 350,000 square feet of exhibit space, which was expanded as part of a $1 billion-plus renovation, and a capacity of 35,000.

A conceptual rendering obtained by the Tampa Bay Business Journal shows the additional exhibit space as part of a mixed-use development that also includes luxury condos, affordable housing, office and administrative space and street-level retail.

Castor is in the process of hiring a convention center director, and the mayor said that person would need to be fully onboarded before the expansion conversation can progress beyond the conceptual stage. The previous director, Una Garvey, retired in March after 40 years as a city employee.

"We've actually seen an increase in our conferences and conventions through the pandemic and then post-pandemic," Castor said.

A spokesperson for Visit Tampa Bay, which markets the convention center to meeting planners, said plans haven't been finalized but that new developments will be announced later.

Two properties are under consideration for the expansion: a 1-acre parcel at the intersection of Channelside Drive and North Franklin Street, owned by Dr. Kiran Patel, and the next block to the east along Channelside Drive, owned by the Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority.

A spokeswoman for THEA declined comment.

Patel confirmed to the Tampa Bay Business Journal on Wednesday that the idea of a convention center on his land there is "something that has been broached," but cautioned that it was a very preliminary discussion.

"It may never happen because there will be lots of challenges we'll face, like the valuation [of the land]," Patel said. "It will all depend on how aggressively and speedily we can all come to a conclusion."