As a fourth-generation Tampanian, Ken Lane has witnessed the Westshore District’s transformation from a modest area on the western edge of the city into the largest corporate office hub on Florida’s West Coast. Lane, a Plant High graduate whose great uncle was former Tampa Mayor Julian Lane, remembers when West Shore Boulevard was pasture land, Tampa International Airport was a one-story building approximately the size of St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, and a Hall of Fame golf course occupied the spot that’s now International Plaza.
Today, Lane helps drive Westshore’s modern-day transformation into a bustling mixed-use district as the Managing Director of global real estate services firm Avison Young’s Tampa office and this year’s President of the Westshore Alliance Board of Directors. Taking the post during the Alliance’s annual meeting at Raymond James Stadium, Lane says his overarching priority is to “fully tap into the potential of what Westshore can become.”
Facilitating development that fits the mixed-use vision
Lane has 30 years of experience in the Tampa commercial real estate market. That professional background is a good fit for the significant projects the Alliance is working on over the next year. His term coincides with a major overhaul of the City of Tampa’s Comprehensive Plan and the Westshore District’s Development of Regional Impact, which set out the policies governing development in Westshore. He wants that process to make it easier and less time-consuming for developers to build in Westshore, provided their project complies with the Westshore Overlay District, which has development regulations and standards specifically for Westshore.
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Westshore AllianceKen Lane speaks after being installed as Westshore Alliance PresidentLane says he’d like to see the introduction of a Westshore commercial zoning category that allows redevelopment of a commercial property into another commercial use to proceed on an expedited track, provided that the new development is mixed-use.
That change aligns with the Alliance’s goal of making Westshore a premier mixed-use district. Lane says it also responds to the reality of the market.
“The way the cost of the land is going up, a lot of projects are going to have to be mixed-use going forward to make their numbers work,” he says. “A lot of what the Alliance is trying to do is lay the groundwork for developers to have an easier time coming in here.”
Lane says this policy change streamlining the redevelopment process would also help Westshore compete for corporate tenants by getting new office space built more quickly. He says some companies that like a lot about Westshore - the sunshine, the location near the water, the proximity to the airport, the talent pipeline, the entertainment and dining scene, and the fact there’s no state income tax - still choose another city because there’s no office space available here that suits their needs.
“When they’re looking at where am I going to put my employees, where is my next site going to be, a lot of times we’ve lost out to other cities because we have not had something already under construction and close to completion or something that can be delivered in 15 to 18 months,” Lane says.
Long-awaited road projects are also on the way in the year ahead. The Westshore Alliance has sought improvements to West Shore Boulevard since the organization was formed in 1983. Work is expected to begin this year on the long-planned transformation of West Shore into a “grand boulevard” with landscaped medians and pedestrian and bicycle-friendly improvements. The Florida Department of Transportation is also scheduled to start work on the reconstruction of Interstate 275 interchange in Westshore. That project will also connect local roadways at Reo Street, Occident Street, and Trask Street to help improve local traffic circulation; and improvements to connect to the local shared-use path and trail network and the shared-use path being built as part of the new Howard Frankland Bridge span.
Bread and butter and beyond
Four decades after the major developers in Westshore formed the Alliance, Executive Director Michael Maurino says, “Our bread and butter is still making sure you can develop in Westshore in the best possible manner.”
As Tampa updates its Comprehensive Plan, Maurino says that means working “to ensure Westshore is developed to the fullest possible extent while acknowledging there will be hurricanes and accounting for resiliency in building and development policies.”
While maintaining that core focus on facilitating quality development, the Alliance has expanded its efforts to make an impact in the community. A prime example of this, Maurino says, is the new traffic signal the Florida Department of State installed in March at Boy Scout Boulevard and Manhattan Avenue, which had been the only entrance to International Plaza without a light.
The intersection sees significant traffic from nearby Roland Park K-8 Magnet School and the surrounding residential neighborhood. Without a traffic signal, it was the site of several serious crashes, including a double fatality in 2021 and a fatality in 2022. Maurino says families from the neighborhood and the school brought their concerns
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Westshore Alliance Executive Director Michael Maurino says the advocacy efforts to get the traffic signal installed had a positive community impact business minded groups rarely see about the dangerous intersection to the Alliance, which brought those concerns to Tampa, Hillsborough County, and state officials. The Alliance put in a year working with local and state officials to get the traffic signal.
“I think that’s an example of how we operate going forward,” Maurino says. “Tackle a plan, take it to a public government agency, and serve as a convener to get this real, tangible thing, this traffic signal that’s going to have an impact on people’s lives beyond the Westshore Alliance. It’s rare for an organization like ours, a business-minded organization, to have a project like that that will make a difference beyond the business community. That project was desperately needed. It’s a very unsafe intersection.”
The Alliance’s Immediate Past President Ashley Watters, Vice President, Commercial Relationship Manager at the Bank of Tampa, says the organization engaged in grassroots community advocacy to get the traffic light.
“It was nice to see our advocacy efforts at work,” she says.
Well positioned for the future
Like Lane’s background in commercial real estate, Watters’ professional experience was the right fit for the Alliance’s priorities during her tenure.
“I come from more of a membership background than some of my predecessors who may have come from a more master plan/transportation background,” she says. “So membership was really important to me going into the year as president and it happened to align well with the membership restructure we went through the prior year. This was the first year we really put it into action.”
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Ashley WattersThat restructuring simplified the Alliance’s membership levels, demonstrated a better return on investment for members, and brought in more strategic members to help the organization thrive.
“We have a lot we’re trying to do in the next five, 10 years,” Watters says. “I think we brought in the right partners to help with that growth.”
During Watters’ term, the Alliance put on nearly 60 events with a combined attendance of close to 2,400 and its ambassadors stepped up efforts to recruit new members. The Public Arts Committee unveiled a series of mural projects and signal box art wraps along West Shore Boulevard. In partnership with Pedal Power Promoters, the Alliance also launched the “Bike Westshore” tour series to show the low-stress bike routes through the district and provide guidance on biking in an urban environment.
Maurino says the dual focus on member recruitment and community engagement laid a strong foundation for the future.
“We did a really good job of setting us up for success,” he says.
For more information, go to Westshore District