TAMPA, Fla. — “Convenience. Right off the interstate. I live in St. Pete.”
Nathaniel Hall says it's much easier and his choice to shop at Westshore Plaza rather than his local mall.
“Tyrone Mall is truly congested and it’s in the heart of the city. This is right off the interstate. I’m in and out,” he said.
Convenience — that's the number one reason people are choosing to move to the Westshore District. 15,000 people live there, 97,000 work there and there's good reason.
“We’ve added six thousand people in the last ten years or so and it’s mostly people who have moved into apartments and they want to be close to work,” said Ann Kulig, Executive Director Westshore Alliance.
Now proposed changes to Westshore Plaza could make it even more convenient for locals.
According to a Westshore Alliance Study, the number one request is for a grocery store.
“For people to have everything in one place, they can walk,” said Kulig.
A grocery store is included in the renderings filed by the Washington Prime Group with the City of Tampa.
Also, new retail, condos or apartments and office space are slated where Sears and parking lots sit now.
“They don’t need to have a car necessarily. We have people who maybe had two cars and now they have one,” said Kulig.
The city would have to approve a rezoning request to make the upgrades happen.
“You’ve got three major thoroughfares and you’re done and parking’s pretty good too,” said Hall.
