BDG Architects is currently working with Strategic Property Partners, and landscape designer Groundswell Design Group out of Philadelphia, on the demolition and redevelopment of the southwest quadrant of Channelside Bay Plaza in Tampa. The new outdoor gathering space will optimize the water views and become a vital part of the future Water Street.
Tampa Bay Business Journal
The configuration of the plaza — it turns its back on the water and isn’t integrated into the surrounding neighborhood — has been blamed for its struggles. By opening a portion of the property up to the waterfront, SPP is aiming to create a destination in the urban core.
That will buoy existing businesses within the plaza and also build a customer base for the new restaurants and retailers in Water Street. The first phase is slated to break ground in early 2018, and by making Channelside a draw early on, SPP is conditioning its customers to seek out its property well before the first buildings open.
A major linchpin of Water Street Tampa — creating a public gathering space on the downtown waterfront — will unfold on Wednesday.
That’s when Strategic Property Partners, the developer of the $3 billion mixed-use district, will demolish the southwest portion of Channelside Bay Plaza, making way for a public park that will feature art, festivals and pop-up bars and restaurants.
“Our priority is to open the existing structure up to the waterfront, creating view corridors to the channel,” a spokeswoman for SPP wrote in an email. “The demolition of the southwest wing is a step in that process. We’re looking forward to construction on the park and creating a new destination.”
The demolition removes a 27,500-square-foot building and replaces it with a park that’s nearly 42,400 square feet (close to 1 acre). Hablo Taco, which occupied space in that building, closed at the end of August; Thai Thani closed in July.
SPP, the real estate company controlled by Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik and Cascade Investment LLC, received approval from Port Tampa Bay to demolish that portion of the plaza in June.
Channelside Bay Plaza opened in 2001 and has struggled since the beginning. Even as the Channel district grew into an urban neighborhood, bringing thousands of residents to that corner of downtown Tampa, the plaza failed to become a destination, for either residents or tourists.