DOWNTOWN TAMPA - There may be life in it yet

[smiley]

Like with Channelside - a diagram I drew and update, so it may change over time. Feel free to post and update news. Roll on

[bobliocatt]

Any news yet on the hotel, proposed next to the convention center?

[smiley]

LAtest I heard was they are in permitting. They plan to break ground in the late summer. They may not have financing. Who the hell knows?

[BigCityAttitude]

I went to Tampa for two weeks, and just came back on Tuesday. What a great city! Traffic is horrible, and it's skyline is misleading for its metro population, (2.5 million) but the architecture is just what you expect to see in the newer, large cities. (Nothing like New York, Boston, Chicago, etc.) It could use some light rail.

Edit: It could use some extended light rail.

[prahaboheme]

^ did you go to Ybor City? That's Tampa's highlight IMO.

[smiley]

Just saw the City COuncil meeting where they approved the site plan and other micellany for this:

Which is now 603 feet (they had some techincal reason to add 10 feet)

[Brickell]

I had forgotten about that tower. I like it.

[smiley]

BY way of orientation on that model - that is facing east on Ashley drive. The right side is north and the right corner - which curves back is the main entrance.

[Brickell]

and it backs up to the river, correct?

[smiley]

Indeed it does. They showed renderings of a realtively nice portion of a riverwalk to which they are committing, with restaurants and outdoor seating and landscaping and whatnot.

I have a good feeling about this porject. This is Las Olas Riverhouse Plus, essentially. And a new tallest, which will be nice. I have been annoyed that we are 20 or so feet under 600 for years. I know, a minor thing, but I jsut want to cross that threshold. It seems that once you get over it, tall buildings just multiply.

BTW: The city blew off the concerns of office buildings nearby that may have their views partially blocked - it is nice to see one developer lose to another when the winner is actually doing something pretty good.

[Jahi98]

I went to Tampa for two weeks, and just came back on Tuesday. What a great city! Traffic is horrible, and it's skyline is misleading for its metro population, (2.5 million) but the architecture is just what you expect to see in the newer, large cities. (Nothing like New York, Boston, Chicago, etc.) It could use some light rail.

Edit: It could use some extended light rail.

Keep in mind, the metro area really has 3 "central cities". However, all 3 downtowns are growing in height and/or density right before our very eyes. Within 5 years, all 3 of these major skylines will have a new look.

[smiley]

A new rendering of the Franklin Residence - I like this view more, but the street action is still pretty weak.

No idea how sales are going.

[bobliocatt]

^will there be any room for retail along Franklin Street? Or is the entire first floor a parking deck?

[smiley]

Not sure. The new drawing seems to indicate that tehre is at laest a coverup of the parking (looks like some windows) if not retail sapce. Then there is this:

I think I know which building this is, and if it is the one I am thinking about, this will be a nice change to an area that seems to be moving a bit.

Former Downtown Liquor Store To Become New Studio

By JANIS D. FROELICH [email protected]

Published: Jun 17, 2004

TAMPA - A former liquor store with living quarters upstairs is about to become home to an international design studio and offices.

The building at 1209 N. Tampa St., purchased last year for $265,000, will be renovated by Garcia Media starting in July.

``It will have an Art Deco feel,'' Mario Garcia Jr. said.

But first Garcia must oversee the clean-up of the downtown building where vagrants have been sleeping in the year since Garcia Global Group Inc. bought it.

Sleeping bags, magazines and food containers clutter downstairs and upstairs of the two-story, C-shaped structure.

Garcia has been gentle in his approach to getting rid of the homeless. However, he said he finally had to call police when a man who had been sleeping in a cardboard box turned violent on him.

Garcia posted a sign after the incident warning the building was to be boarded up in case anyone wanted to claim his possessions.

Such are the challenges in the north end of downtown, a somewhat deserted area a few blocks from the hustle and bustle of office workers.

Garcia said the firm founded by his father, who is known for bringing color to the staid pages of the Wall Street Journal in his redesign work, accepts the task.

``We're in the business of revitalization,'' said Garcia, standing on the top floor where doors to rooftop terraces will be added.

``The change here will be incredible. Yet the lines will remain the same so we'll be combining a little bit of the past and present.''

The elder Garcia has almost 30 years of redesign experience and has redesigned more than 450 newspapers. The author of 12 books, he founded the graphics department at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies after joining the St. Petersburg facility's faculty in 1984.

The Garcias hired Stephanie Ferrell, who has a nearby personal project of transforming the former 1920s Arlington Hotel into a mixed-use structure.

Ferrell plans high-tech lighting, brushed stainless steel railings and polished black terrazzo floors for the Garcia building. She said while walls will be knocked down and the ceiling will be raised to give the 10 employees a sense of openness, the 3,600 square feet is a solid 1950s structure.

``There will be glass and steel,'' she said, ``but it will be done so the integrity of the older building is still there.''

As an example, new glass block walls will be added to the glass blocks already there.

For now, the site is surrounded by city-owned parking lots, giving the Garcias a view of downtown from their front door.

However, that could change as more redevelopment comes to the area. In addition to Ferrell's project at 1219 N. Franklin St., which will have 11 residences upstairs and 10 mixed- use units downstairs, Residences on Franklin is planned next to the CPA offices of Luciano Prida, 1106 N. Franklin St., who plans the 34-unit complex.

Reporter Janis D. Froelich can be reached at (813) 259-7143.

http://southtampa.tbo.com/southtampa/MGBF3KY0KVD.html

[robbie]

A new rendering of the Franklin Residence - I like this view more, but the street action is still pretty weak.

No idea how sales are going.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Puney! Only seven stories. Should have been thirty.