North Tampa’s University Area neighborhood has endured its share of tough times over the decades.
During the 1980s and 1990s, a residential and commercial exodus left large areas off of Fowler, Fletcher, and Bearss avenues between Interstate 275 and 56th Street reeling in economic despair. Vacant storefronts and a heavy concentration of rentals ushered in a host of socioeconomic challenges and left a stigmatizing moniker that
stuck for years: “Suitcase City.”
Now, the North Tampa community also known as the Uptown District is revitalized and blossoming, thanks in large part to the University Area Community Development Corporation. The nonprofit University Area CDC was launched in 1998 with a mission to improve the economic, educational, and quality of life conditions in the community through youth and adult education programs, workforce assistance, housing resources, and other initiatives. UACDC has also revitalized the community through investments in infrastructure improvements and affordable housing.
Removing barriers
When LaTiecea Hailey-Brown was the principal at Mort Elementary in North Tampa, the half-empty lunchboxes and the backpacks devoid of essential school supplies were evidence of the economic barriers for families in the community. The lack of access to preventive medical care was also a significant community issue.
“A lot of the kids were going to the emergency room at Advent Health for medical care,” Hailey-Brown says. “Families couldn’t afford to take their children to doctors or were too far from medical care facilities to get their kids there.”
Hailey-Brown reached out to doctors, social workers, and other specialists who could work together on solutions to meet the medical needs of Mort's students and the community's children. It’s the kind of partnership Hailey-Brown calls the “golden thread,” where experts from different disciplines work as one to solve macrocosmic issues.
“You’ve got to be humble as a leader,” she says. “I’m not an expert, but I know folks who are.”
Mort Elementary now has onsite medical staff for its students and Tampa Family Health Centers has a facility on Bearss Avenue just blocks west of the school. The positive changes that Hailey-Brown helped bring to Mort remain years after she moved on to become chief operating officer at University Area CDC. In that role, her ability to bring people to the table has helped the University Area CDC team collaborate to develop affordable housing, build community gathering places, and get much-needed safety improvements like sidewalks, lighting, and pedestrian crossings installed.
Houses & homes
Hailey-Brown understands change is the key to making a better community for everyone. But that change should not come at the expense of the current residents.
“Our mission is not to move people out,” she says.
To that end, the University Area CDC has worked with a variety of community partners to increase the community’s affordable housing stock. A partnership with Habitat for Humanity built 10 single-family homes on 138th Avenue, providing opportunities for home ownership.
For years, affordable housing developer Blue Sky Communities and the University Area CDC explored opportunities to collaborate on a project.
“We looked for sites for more than five years before we found one that was feasible,” Blue Sky founder and President Shawn Wilson says.
![]()
Blue Sky Communities Uptown SkyEventually, the collaboration happened. The result is Uptown Sky, an affordable apartment community that opened in 2023 at the intersection of East Fletcher Avenue and 12
th Street. The following year, Blue Sky opened a second affordable apartment complex in the area, The Adderley, on Nebraska Avenue, just north of Busch Boulevard.
Wilson says Blue Sky’s two University Area/Uptown developments are at strategic locations for breaking residents' dependency on the automobile and providing car-free transportation options.
“What I’m most happy about is that we are getting our families out of the ‘car trap,’” he says. “In other words, those two properties have fairly decent access to frequent Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (HART) bus service, and they are walkable to some services as well. We keep track of car use across our entire portfolio and it’s lowest at Uptown and Adderley, despite having quite a few larger three-bedroom apartments.”
Wilson says the cost of car ownership will either put automobiles out of reach for low-income families or leave them with less money to spend on housing. To make public transportation a realistic option for more working families, Wilson says the bus system needs service improvements such as “10-minute headways on most routes and dedicated bus lanes.”
How do you solve a problem like Fowler Avenue?
Reaching eight lanes – four in each direction – at its widest point, Fowler Avenue is the largest thoroughfare in University Area/Uptown -- a major east-west corridor between I-75 and I-275 flanked by large-scale developments like RITHM, the mixed-use residential, retail, and research hub at the former University Mall.
“The Fowler corridor is both a barrier and an opportunity,” says University Area CDC Chief Community Development Officer Erica Moody. “UACDC fully supports transforming it into a multimodal, pedestrian-first boulevard that enhances safety and creates a welcoming gateway into Uptown. It’s time to turn plans into action. Studies have shown ways to reimagine Fowler to prioritize walkability, making it easier for students, employees, and residents to access the many assets along the corridor. With fewer cars and less need for parking, more people can enjoy walking to work, school, or some of Tampa’s best restaurants nearby.”
Nearby, there’s a project success story for making an auto-centric road corridor safer for pedestrians and bicyclists. The sidewalks and safety improvements near Mort Elementary provide a safe walking route from the school to the University Area CDC and the nonprofit’s Harvest Hope Park.
“Now there are sidewalks, crosswalks, signs, and traffic-calming features that make the whole route multimodal for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians,” Moody says.
She also points to Fletcher Avenue, a congested roadway lined with shopping centers and apartment complexes.
“Installing rapid-flashing beacons along Fletcher Avenue [made] it much safer for people to cross the street,” she says. “Enhanced landscaping and planting trees along routes are helping everyone enjoy their commute with peace of mind that they are safe.”
Still, Fowler remains a unique challenge for local, regional, and state planners. The University Area CDC advocates for multimodal improvements such as bike lanes, wide, shaded sidewalks, improved public transit, and a local circulator connecting key destinations, Moody says.
“Plus, there’s exciting potential to repurpose the adjacent rail line for regional transit down the line,” she says. “Achieving this vision will require a great deal of coordination between stakeholders. But, with determination and persistence, it can and will be done.”
Community gathering spaces bring hope
A lot of work has gone into revitalizing the University Area/Uptown neighborhood. But there is still a long way to go. Many community issues remain. Some are only evident after the fact. That was the case last October when Hurricane Milton’s historic rainfall exposed the area’s vulnerable stormwater infrastructure and caused devastating flooding across North Tampa.
“Since then, conversations on stormwater systems have become a top priority, with local projects underway to upgrade drains, enhance retention basins, and reduce street-level flooding in the most impacted neighborhoods,” Moody says. “However, the community will need funding and action to make this a reality.”
Some needed drainage improvements will use land the University Area CDC purchased through its land-banking program, which acquires sites for infrastructure, residential, commercial, and recreational projects that benefit the community.
Harvest Hope Park, which opened in 2019 near the intersection of East 137
th Avenue and North 20
th Street, came about through the land banking program.
“Harvest Hope Park proves that underutilized land — especially former brownfield
![]()
University Area CDCHarvest Hope Park is a community gathering place sites — can be reimagined into vibrant, safe, and healthy community spaces,” Moody remarks. “It’s more than just a park; it’s a model for how we can transform spaces to serve the health, wellness, and connection of our neighborhoods. The park features walking trails, fitness equipment, a community garden, and public art that reflects the culture of our residents.”
Hailey-Brown says Harvest Hope Park is a place for the community to gather.
“People hold baby showers there, churches use it to gather,” Classes are held there. It’s a beacon of community. During our last Father’s Day event, there were 400 dads there making memories together.”
Nearby, The Campus at Harvest Hope Park is a multiphase project that will provide
health- and wealth-building opportunities. The focal point for this new project is an existing 7,500-square-foot warehouse that will be remodeled and used for a variety of workforce, networking, and community programming initiatives.
“It’s designed to be the hub of opportunity for Uptown residents,” Moody says.
For more information, go to University Area CDC
This story is produced through an underwriting agreement between the University Area Commuinty Redevelopment Corporation and 83 Degrees Media