YBOR CITY, Fla. — As police continue to investigate and city leaders look for solutions after the weekend shooting in Ybor City, business owners, and developers are looking to the future of work and life in the area.
The Florida Museum of Photographic Arts is new to the neighborhood in Ybor City.
It used to be in downtown Tampa but recently relocated to 7th Avenue.
"We spent several months looking all over the Tampa Bay community and finally landed at what we think is the perfect location," said Gregory Morgan, the Vice Chairman of the Board at the museum.
Now, they and the rest of the community are grappling with the shooting that shocked the area, and it comes even as more development is planned nearby.
Back in March, ABC Action News shared the groundbreaking for the Gas Worx project, located between Ybor and the Channel district, which officials say will include nearly 5,000 new residences, as well as office space and retail.
The development is a joint effort between Kettler and Darryl Shaw.
Following the weekend shooting, Shaw shared this statement:
"To be a healthy, vibrant neighborhood, Ybor City needs a greater balance of residences, restaurants, shops and other businesses that add to the unique character of the Latin Quarter. But in the immediate future, hard conversations must take place that focus on curtailing an environment that fosters violence like Sunday's shootings."
The city confirmed Mayor Castor had a meeting scheduled for Wednesday with some business leaders and developers to discuss Ybor.
"Talking about the transition of Ybor City from entertainment and focusing. Clearly, we have to ensure that we have amenities down there, including entertainment, but focusing on the residential, office, retail, education, culture, those types of issues as opposed to solely focusing on entertainment," said Castor.
In the wake of the shooting, ABC Action News requested some crime statistics for the area. Tampa Police said the comparative data for total violent crimes, specifically in Ybor City, shows:
- Jan. - Sep. 2022 Total Violent Crimes 44
- Jan. - Sep. 2023 Total Violent Crimes 43
"The businesses, I believe, are not the problem," said Tom DeGeorge, the owner of Crowbar. "I think the businesses are the solution."
DeGeorge said a lot of the businesses work in great detail to try to make their venues as safe as possible.
"The issue with violence and gun violence in our country is not going away," said DeGeorge. "So you've got to do the work, you have to have a tight community, and you need the city to want to embrace those businesses and work with us to make things happen and make things safer."
Still, businesses said despite everything, they know they're in the right place.
"It's just plain safe," said Morgan. "If you look down the streets, especially during the daytime, it's groups, it's families, it's kids, and we just really still see it as the perfect location."
