Construction is changing the face of Ybor City
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: May 31, 2024

Construction is changing the face of Ybor City, from the historic district itself to the urban neighborhoods between Ybor and the Channel district.

Here's a look at five key projects in and around the historic district.

The developers of Gasworx — a joint venture partnership between Washington, D.C.-based Kettler and Ybor developer Darryl Shaw — have signed three general contractors to build apartments, office space and an adaptive reuse project in Gasworx. At completion, Gasworx will be more than 5.9 million square feet across 34 acres: north of Adamo Drive, west of North 15th Street, south of East Fifth Avenue and east of East Scott Street.

Office space: Suffolk Construction said on May 15 that it will build a 100,000-square-foot office building in Gasworx. Tampa-based Grow Financial Federal Credit Union will be the anchor tenant in that building, occupying 50,000 square feet and moving its headquarters to Gasworx from suburban Hillsborough County.

“Suffolk is honored to work with Darryl Shaw and Kettler on this incredible Gasworx project in Ybor City, a unique community driven by arts, culture and history, that continues to attract residents, businesses and visitors because of its high quality of life,” James Scarpace, general manager of Suffolk in Tampa, said in a statement. “Our wealth of experience and strong and diverse project portfolio in Tampa, appreciation and track record for delivering historic renovation projects, and use of sophisticated technologies and processes will allow us to deliver a seamless and successful project that will make Shaw, Kettler and the Ybor City community proud.”

Apartments: Juneau Construction Co. is building two apartment buildings with street-level retail in Gasworx: La Union, which broke ground in early 2023 and has 317 apartments and 2,500 square feet of retail space, and a yet-unnamed apartment building with 390 units and 8,000 square feet of commercial space just south of La Union. The unnamed building recently landed a $70.76 million construction loan and the backing of Chicago-based Cresset Partners' qualified opportunity zone fund.

Adaptive reuse: Moss Construction has been hired to revitalize a 1301 E Fourth Ave. warehouse. The warehouse, adjacent to the office building Grow Financial will occupy, will be renovated to make way for food and beverage concepts and retail tenants.

Casa Marti and Casa Gomez

On the western edge of the Ybor historic district, Shaw has two adjacent projects that are about to bring new life to the area. Casa Marti, developed in partnership with DDA Development, has 127 market-rate apartments and 6,500 square feet of street-level retail space at 1212 E Seventh Ave.

Chancey Design is the architect and interior designer on Casa Marti; Florida First is the general contractor, and developers are targeting an opening date of July 1.

Casa Gomez, at 1229 E Eighth Ave., is a 22,000-square-foot building with a 3,192-square-foot street-level restaurant space for lease and a 3,853-square-foot rooftop for lease. GNP Development of Tampa is marketing the rooftop and ground-level restaurant for lease. Ellison Construction is the general contractor on Casa Gomez; Chancey Design is the architect and interior designer. Some office tenants have already begun moving into Casa Gomez.