No, they won’t transform downtown Tampa overnight. But, yes, they are key catalytic developments with classic win-win upsides. Plans for USF’s Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation and more progress on the Encore mixed-use project are a welcome tandem of good news, one that more than offsets the sobering reality of the upcoming Maas Bros. parking lot.
For too long the Tampa Convention Center sat diagonally across from a nightclub better know for mayhem than music. Franklin Street booty calls and police calls — not exactly the highest and best use of prime, downtown real estate. And a convention-visitor juxtaposition to cringe at: Welcome to Tampa.
Now, thanks to a $3.5 million deal between the city and USF, the raised lot at 102 S. Franklin will become a high-tech training facility for surgeons from around the world. The $20 million, 60,000-square-foot CAMLS should break ground by January. It’s expected to bring in as many as 40 jobs and attract other businesses to downtown.
It also puts Tampa squarely on the international map when it comes to cutting-edge, robotic surgical training. CAMLS will include an advanced surgical skills laboratory, a simulation center and virtual hospital, an auditorium and a research lab. The surrounding hotels and other amenities are convenient, complementary pieces.
And when the GOP convention rolls into town in two years, the media can reference that Tampa is the international hub of something other than lap-dancing.
As for Encore, the public-private project planned for the 28 acres that previously housed the demolished Central Park Village, it received an important nod in the approval process from Tampa City Council. (The Council still needs to formally sign the development agreement among the city, the Tampa Housing Authority and Bank of America.) Earlier in the year Encore scored a $38 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to pay for infrastructure needs.
Plans for the area between downtown and Ybor City include building as many as 1,500 affordable- and -market-rate housing units plus shops, offices, a hotel, a middle school, a museum and a renovated park. Proponents estimate it could mean as many as 4,000 short-term construction jobs and 1,000 permanent ones.
But the long-term benefits are the real priority. For too long downtown Tampa has been residentially challenged. And that included the unsightly, public-housing complex that was CPV. Encore is a legacy project and an urban reset-button opportunity. One that can connect downtown and Ybor while providing homes — not just housing — to those who want to be part of a viable, vibrant, inner-city community.