Here's what could be built on Harbour Island Athletic Club's property
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jan 26, 2023

The closure of the Harbour Island Athletic Club could open up a prime redevelopment site in one of downtown Tampa’s wealthiest neighborhoods.

The gym, managed by Colorado-based Wellbridge Club Management, will close on Feb. 28. It sits on nearly 6.5 acres on Harbour Island — and its current zoning allows for the development of up to 1,475 multifamily units without city council approval. If a developer proposes a project within a property’s existing zoning, the project is evaluated by city staff and not subject to a public hearing before city council.

The athletic club’s real estate has been in the spotlight recently: Tampa-based Liberty Group, which wanted to build an AC by Marriott hotel on Harbour Island, used the property as an example at a Dec. 15 council hearing. Council rejected a rezoning request for Liberty’s 10-story, 145-room hotel for a second time at that hearing after residents opposed the project.

Liberty’s hotel site is next door to the Harbour Island Athletic Club.

“I personally think that it’s one of the best redevelopment opportunities in the entire city,” Jacob Cremer, a land-use attorney and partner at Stearns Weaver Miller, said of the athletic club property. “It’s a very, very desirable site for residential and mixed-use development.”

Cremer represents Liberty Group, which had sample renderings created of what could be built on the gym’s property. The development on that site could stand up to 158 feet or 14 stories high; in addition to the 1,475 apartments, it would also include up to 2,065 parking spaces.

By comparison, the first phase of Water Street Tampa has 1,336 residential units between apartment towers Heron, Asher and Cora and the luxury condos atop the Tampa Edition hotel.

“As we talked about in our presentation, Harbour Island is really the heart of downtown,” Cremer said, “and you’ve got just what city council says that they want. It’s walkable to transit, to the streetcar, to the arena, to the convention center — any kind of personal services you would want are all within walking distance.”