A New Orleans-based company has received initial approval to develop a downtown Tampa block that
Mayor Bob Buckhorn calls a "prime lot."
The City of Tampa announced Thursday, Sept. 29, that
HRI Properties submitted the winning bid of $7.5 million.
"The city received very attractive proposals from three very qualified teams, and after careful analysis, HRI’s proposal offered exactly what the City of Tampa was looking for," says Buckhorn in a
prepared statement. "HRI offered not only a vision that would add to Tampa’s burgeoning downtown, but also offered an attractive purchase price, density and innovative design."
HRI's mission is to revitalize cities by creating diverse, vibrant and sustainable communities, according to its
website. Since it was founded in 1982, HRI has completed more than 81 large-scale projects with more than 6,061 apartment units and condominiums, 5,594 hotel rooms, and 1.38 million square feet of office/retail space, representing more than $2.5 billion of development costs.
HRI's plans for Tampa's downtown block, located along the east side of North Florida Avenue between East Kennedy Boulevard and East Jackson Street, include a 21-story building that will include a 223-room Hyatt Centric Hotel, 225 residential units, 7,000 square feet of commercial/retail space, and a 408-car garage. Construction is planned to start in the third quarter or 2017 and is slated to be complete in May 2019.
The Tampa City Council will need to approve a purchase contract and development agreement before the deal is complete.
Buckhorn says a livable, walkable and pedestrian-oriented downtown has been the city's goal and the focus of its work for the last six years.
"We look forward to this new project joining the rapidly growing Tampa skyline," Buckhorn says in the statement.
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