The economics of Water Street Tampa's first phase, by the numbers
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: May 15, 2023

It's been less than a decade since Tampa business and civic leaders crammed inside a hotel ballroom to learn about Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik and Cascade Investment LLC's vision for transforming a moribund corner of the urban core into a thriving neighborhood.

In 9.5 years, that vision has grown from conceptual renderings to the first phase of Water Street Tampa, a 5-million-square-foot district that generates $520 million in annual economic output, according to a study by PFM Group Consulting LLC.

The study, released Monday and commissioned by Water Street developer Strategic Property Partners, breaks down the tax revenues the district generates on an annual basis. In 2015, Tampa City Council approved an agreement with SPP to reimburse nearly $30 million in infrastructure costs from community redevelopment area funds. (CRAs have a state designation that allows them to use locally generated money to fund projects within the CRA.) The first new building in Water Street, the J.W. Marriott, broke ground in 2018.

The foundation of Water Street is a new street grid that connects the Channel district to Water Street and Water Street to the central business district via Cumberland Avenue.

“Water Street Tampa is a perfect example of tax increment financing in redevelopment,” Nicole Travis, the city's development and economic opportunity administrator, said in a statement. “Tampa CRA’s TIF contribution was used for the public infrastructure that resulted in the eventual $4 billion private investment. The improved quality of life and amenities is a direct result of increased private investment that follows public dollars, leading to an increase in the value of the area.”

SPP said it is in the planning stage of Water Street's second phase, which will also include a significant infrastructure project. When the developer acquired the Ardent Mills property in 2018, it announced a partnership with the city of Tampa and the Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority to create a better-connected street grid between Water Street, the Channel district and the central business district. (See a video animation of the new street grid, created by the Tampa Downtown Partnership, here.)

The first phase of Water Street includes the following:

1,418 hotel rooms in three properties (including the Tampa Marriott Water Street, which Vinik acquired in 2014)

565,000 square feet of office space, some of which is home to the headquarters of Tampa-based ReliaQuest, the anchor of office tower Thousand and One

The University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute

172,000 square feet of retail/commercial space, over 60 new retail spaces

1,300 rental apartments

37 condominiums

Parking facilities

Here's a breakdown of the tax revenues the property generates annually:

$8.6 million to the city of Tampa

$7.8 million to Hillsborough County

$7 million to the Hillsborough County School District

$483,000 to Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority

$444,000 to the Children’s Board of Hillsborough County

$15 million sales tax to the state

$4.1 million Hillsborough Tourist Development Taxes from new hotel rooms

$12.7 million in local impact fees dedicated to transportation, water and sewer, art and schools

Jobs created:

2,700 jobs per year created during construction

5,900 jobs per year permanently created

$890 million in construction wages

$226 million in permanent annual wages