TAMPA, Fla. — The pandemic has halted a lot of things, but take a quick drive around Tampa and you’ll realize construction isn’t one of them.
The Midtown Tampa development has got dozens of ribbon cuttings lined up, and the ribbon cutting for the building the entire development was formed around, REI, was in March.
Standing atop the newly-opened Aloft Tampa Midtown hotel, you’ve got a clear view of Downtown Tampa, but you can also see clear to St. Pete. Developers and city officials are calling Midtown Tampa a prime location to draw people in from all across Tampa Bay.
“Midtown Tampa’s gonna represent a new way to interact,” said Nick Haines, CEO of The Bromley Companies, the Master Developer of Midtown Tampa.
It wasn’t all that long ago that the southeast corner of Dale Mabry and I-275 sat empty.
“This was literally my first groundbreaking here,” said City of Tampa Mayor Jane Castor.
That was mid-2019. Now things are starting to come full circle for the project.
“With retail, residential, office, and a hotel, all in the same development, designed in a really integrated way where retail’s at the base of every single building, we have 27 different retailers that are going to be here,” said Haines.
Restaurants like Shake Shack, the newly opened rooftop bar Sal Y Mar, Whole Foods and Sephora just to name a few.
And on Friday, the space the entire development is centered around opens up shop.
“We can think of no other brand which personifies what Midtown Tampa wants to be than REI,” said Haines.
REI brings with it 50 jobs to the Tampa Bay area, a fraction of the nearly 6,000 total jobs the development will offer, all activated by the soon-to-be 600 residents, 3,000 office workers, 250 hotel guests, and other visitors.
“We have a 3-acre lake and Midtown trail which has a jogging trail around it. We have Midtown Commons, which would be really a great gathering place,” said Haines.
Residential and office space are set to open up in April, Whole Foods and Shake Shack are set to open in June, and the developer expects the entire Midtown area will be full and in operation by mid-year.
Click here to learn more about the Midtown Tampa development, and all it plans to bring to the area.