Kelly Hayes
Water Street Tampa is nearing completion of its first phase.
The project is headed by commercial real estate development firm Strategic Property Partners, a partnership between Cascade Investments and Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik.
The group anticipates several milestones to be completed over the next year. That includes opening the new JW Marriott, the Cumberland Avenue connection between downtown and the Channel District, opening apartments to residents and bringing in new retail and office tenants.
The first phase includes 10 buildings, which are expected to be completed by early 2022.
With the completion of several phase one projects, the area will add 519 hotel rooms and four new restaurants across 26 floors with the opening of the JW Marriot. The hotel will also have a full-service spa and 100,000 square feet of ballroom and meeting space.
Construction is also on schedule to begin removing the existing railway crossing at Meridian Avenue in early November, with East Cumberland Avenue opening between Channelside Drive and downtown in early 2021 for an east-west connection through the downtown core to Port Tampa Bay.
Construction for the project began in 2016, and it is now nearing the end of phase one, with about 5 million square feet of residential, hospitality, office, retail and educational space complete or under construction.
“Since we introduced the vision of Water Street Tampa, much of the past five years has been dedicated to planning for what we are now seeing — a real, forward-thinking, urban neighborhood,” SPP VP Charlie Rollins said in a news release. “We continue to be excited about supporting the economic growth of the Tampa Bay region while offering new opportunities to experience and enjoy downtown Tampa.”
The new space is located in Tampa’s downtown coastal area, near Channelside. The projects are intertwined with landmarks like the Florida Aquarium and Amalie Arena.
Once complete, the area will have 70 retailers and restaurants, Tampa’s first downtown trophy office building in more than 25 years and more than 1,300 new apartments spread among four buildings.
The project will also include hotels, the first hotel-branded residences available for sale in Tampa Bay and the University of South Florida’s Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute. Finally, it will include the first WELL-certified community as designated by the International Well Building Institute, a certification that guarantees access to healthy living.
