Condo developer purchases Tampa Tribune building; other projects under-way in residential renaissance

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rendering tampa tribune
Rendering of the proposed building on the Tampa Tribune's site

The Related Group has purchased the Tampa Tribune’s waterfront building and, after it is demolished, will construct a residential building on the four-acre site on South Parker St.

The developer purchased the newspaper’s building for $17.5 million. The publication will remain at the location for the time being under a lease-back arrangement. Once demolition is completed, however, the developer plans an eight-story, 400-unit project on the site purchased from Revolution Capital, the private equity company that purchased The Tribune in 2012.

The Tribune has reported that it will remain on the site until demolition begins, likely in early 2016. Publisher Brian Burns wrote that the” Tribune fully intends to remain a viable part of the Tampa Bay community and a watchdog for our consumers, subscribers and advertisers.”

The paper reports that it is “consulting with relocation experts on a future location for the main newsroom and support operations.”

The Tampa Bay Business Journal has reported that the development would include space for a 10,000-sq. ft. restaurant and that Related was fast-tracking the project, with plans to complete it by 2017.

“The Tribune deal represents further confidence in downtown Tampa’s residential real estate market,” the Tribune reported in its article on the building sale. “While much attention has been focused on the Channelside and downtown core areas, where Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik has proposed a $1 billion redevelopment of roughly 40 acres, the city and developers have also honed in on the west bank of the Hillsborough River.”

Other initiatives include, according to the Tribune story:

  • The city has budgeted an initial $8 million of what is expected to be a $20 million overhaul of the Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park north of the University of Tampa, and farther north, it is transforming 120 acres from blocks of public housing to a rebuilt community of walkable streets and free-standing homes.
  • Developer Hillsborough River Realty has assembled just over six acres along the river at Kennedy Boulevard that has permitting for 900,000 square feet of mixed use.
rendering tampa tribune
Rendering of the proposed building on the Tampa Tribune’s site

“We’ve said from the moment we set foot in the office, the goal was to make the river the center of our urban existence, not the western edge,” Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn was quoted as saying by the Tribune, adding that the Tribune deal “is the first big step and a significant signal that this is going to happen. I think other investment will follow.”

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