Housing Market Continues To Move Fast

Glenn and Gretchen Schmidt started building in Wesley Chapel’s Estancia community last July, before things got crazy in the housing market. When their new house was ready, they were able to sell the home they owned in New Tampa pictured above, in just two days. (Photos: Charmaine George)

When it came time to sell their home in West Meadows to move into their new home in Estancia, Glenn Schmidt and his wife Gretchen knew they were entering a pretty good local housing market for sellers.

So, when the Schmidts finally listed their home with long-time New Tampa Realtor Kristy Darragh of Florida Executive Realty, they were hoping there was enough interest that they’d at least get their asking price.

On a Friday, the Schmidt’s four-bedroom, three-bath house was officially put up for sale. On Saturday, they had 33 people show up for a showing.

On Sunday morning, there were 22 more scheduled showings by 2 p.m.

“I had to stop setting appointments,” Glenn says. “My phone would not stop blowing up.”

By the end of the weekend, the Schmidts had 15 offers, including two buyers offering to pay in cash, and they eventually accepted a bid well over their asking price.

“We significantly more than doubled what we originally paid for the house,” he says. “It’s one thing to hear that you’re going to do very well when you sell, but then to see (this)? It was ridiculous.”

The Schmidts’ story would have been highly unusual just a year ago. But nowadays, it’s normal.

“This market, it’s a phenomenon,” says Darragh. “It’s mind boggling.”

*****

In Wesley Chapel and elsewhere, the sky seems to be the limit, as soaring prices and sinking inventory make the market a real dogfight.

In our coverage area in Wesley Chapel, which includes zip codes 33543, 33544 and 33545, there were only 60 single family homes listed for sale as of June 24. The median home was a 4BR/3BA, with 2,573 square feet of living space and a listing price of $507,498.  

Of those 60 homes, only eight were new construction, and the median price on those was $650,000, or a staggering $246 per square foot.

The 52 resales, with a median size of 4BR/3BA and 2,654 square feet, had a median price of $498,000, or $198 per square foot.

(Florida Realtors)

Countywide, the numbers are staggering as well.

According to the Florida Realtors, the median sale price of all 1,083 houses sold in Pasco County in May was $300,380, a 20.2% increase over the $250,000 median price in May 2020.

Meanwhile, the average price soared to $343,070, a 27% increase from the previous year.

The median time to contract on the homes sold this May was five days, while last year it was 27 days.

Inventory is down to 637 homes, compared with 1,746 last year.

Although Wesley Chapel is a growing housing market with thousands of homes coming along the S.R. 56 extension and in large communities like Epperson, Avalon Park West and the Connected City corridor, builders can’t keep up, hence the lack of inventory.

Realtor Chris Henry says that the current craziness in the local real estate market isn’t likely to suffer another “housing bubble” anytime soon.

Combine all of that with historically low interest rates (around 3%) and a massive influx of new residents running away from coronavirus-ravaged states to Florida, which also has friendlier tax policies and “you have a perfect storm,” says local Realtor Chris Henry.

He says that there are 20 or more buyers for almost every house being sold, and anything under $350,000 sells almost instantly, usually for more than the asking price — and often with cash. In fact, 27.1% of sales in May were paid in cash, a number that has increased every month since November 2020, when it was 17.6 percent.

Henry says he recently listed a client’s home for $25,000 more than he normally would have because of the market, and it led to 74 showings over the next two days, resulting in 33 written offers. The house sold for an additional $30,000 over that already-inflated asking price.

“You know, it’s cliché to say, but this is really unprecedented,” Henry says.

Another of Henry’s clients, Noemi Delgado, sold the Riverview townhome she had only lived in for eight months for a $40,000 profit, and turned around and used that money to put down on a new home. “With money to spare,” she says.

Delgado initially planned to live in her townhome for two years before selling but with some prodding from Henry, took a more aggressive approach.

In this market, it might be the only way to succeed.

*****

While traditionally 3-4 months worth of inventory is considered good, the latest numbers say there isn’t even a month’s worth of homes for sale right now. The number currently is 0.6 months supply, meaning that if nothing new came on the market over the next 2-3 weeks, there would be zero houses for sale.

“We are accustomed to low inventory, but I think we are all surprised to see the influx of buyers from out of state coming to the Tampa Bay area,” says Florida Executive Realty Realtor Judi Beck. “To have less than one month of inventory is really uncharted waters.”

The inventory in the Greater Tampa area in April 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic was right around 10,700 homes for sale, with an average selling price of $271,000.

Just 12 months later, inventory was down to just 2,500 homes, but the average sale price had rocketed to $358,000.

In New Tampa, there were only 34 single-family homes listed for sale as of June 11, and 14 of those were asking for more than $500,000 — pricing a lot of first-time buyers out of the market. 

Only five homes were listed under $300,000.

For a 3BR/2BA, the prices ranged from a low of $324,900 to $408,000; for a 4BR/3BA, the range was from as little as $307,000 to $1.25 million.

“I think personally, the local people aren’t moving out in as big numbers as the people coming in,” says 17-year real estate veteran Molly Nye, of Century 21 Bill Nye Realty. “There is a supply problem. We’re six months out from this being exciting and frustrating.”

Nye says she is seeing home seekers bidding on empty lots, “which is unheard of.”  

It’s a seller’s market, so buyers may need to be more aggressive than usual. The fewer contingencies a buyer has, the more attractive the offer is to the seller, and they typically have many offers to choose from. The seller just needs a place to go once he or she sells. Nye says she has a friend who sold her home to cash out, and is now living with another friend because she can’t find a place to buy. 

“She told me that she didn’t think that would happen to her,” Nye says. “I’m seeing a lot more of that.”

*****

In the early- to mid-2000s, a similar boom was instigated by poor lending practices and rampant investor speculation. That led to the average list price in New Tampa, for example, rising from $272,000 in 2003 to $443,000 in 2006. 

Then, the real estate “bubble” of 2007-08 popped..

By 2011, the median home in New Tampa was down to $236,000.

Economists and Realtors alike will tell you that this boom is related primarily to the migration of people to Florida, from places like New York, California and all points in between. The ability to work remotely here has been another driving factor. Henry says that four of his last six sales have been to New Yorkers. Because of Covid-19 and the economy, thousands of people each day are leaving states that are not as “open” as Florida, or as tax-friendly, selling their homes and showing up on the doorsteps of local Realtors flush with cash.

Do we risk another real estate bubble/crash reminiscent of 2007-08? 

“There is no bubble,” Henry says.

*****

According to Darragh, the New Tampa market is healthy and finally realizing the growth in appreciation it has long deserved.

“The New Tampa market has been undervalued for more than eight years, with a slow growth in appreciation, due to the amount of new construction available,” she says. ”Now that the new construction inventory in Wesley Chapel has come to an abrupt halt, the re-sale market pricing in the New Tampa area has jumped overnight.”

Kristy Darragh.

Over the past six months, home prices across the country have risen by 17 percent. Nationally, the typical home asking price in May was $380,000, up 15% from last year.

“Absorption rate is a term used in the real estate industry to describe how fast homes are selling,” Darragh says. “A normal absorption rate for Tampa for the first quarter of this year should have been 40-50% per month. That means that each month, when new listings come on the market, the number of buyers will buy up 40-50% of those new listings. This year, that number is a staggering 179%-200%!”

That means this aggressive absorption rate is sucking up everything that is being built, every new listing that comes on the market, plus the existing inventory of homes. And, as Nye says, even empty lots.

Realtors agree that supply and demand are dangerously out of balance, and question whether this is economically sustainable. The only thing that can slow it down, they say, would be more inventory. However, there’s no indication of an inventory build-up anytime soon.

Henry is convinced that higher interest rates will eventually cause some paralysis. He says it happened in 2018 for a brief period, stopping home owners from selling out of their low mortgage rates and also slowing demand. But, he believes that situation could be at least a year or two away.

“I feel very strongly that in the end, we’ll come in for a soft landing,” Henry says, “but it’s going to take, unfortunately, interest rates increasing and making it impossible for people to buy at 4 or 5 percent. They will be unwilling, and in many cases, unable.”

Darragh has spent hours poring over the data to figure out the current market. Her desk is covered in pie charts and bar graphs, while her computer constantly refreshes to update her on the local housing market in real-time.

With her 30 years of experience selling in the New Tampa area and, with more than  $1 billion in sales over that time, she is fascinated looking through her pages of housing statistics. While conventional wisdom says a good seller’s market is bad for buyers, that’s not the case if you are a believer, like she is, that this will continue for another year or two…or longer.

“This market is a once-in-a-generation kind of market, because of what stimulated it (a pandemic),” Darragh says. “It’s a very good market for both buyers and sellers — and people don’t think about it that way — but looking at the charts and listening to real estate experts and economists, they don’t think this is going to end anytime soon. This could be the beginning of something that, in theory, goes on for years.”

The pricing surge has been eye-opening, especially in places like Seminole Heights and South Tampa, but while the urge to cash out may be strong, buyers waiting for a slowdown may be waiting a while.

That’s because, she says, New Tampa is only just now catching back up from the crash of 2007-08.

Based on a Florida Executive Realty “Pent Up Equity” chart, New Tampa’s median home price was $236,000 in 2011, well below the $289,000 it should have been, according to a normal rate of appreciation of 3.5 percent per year.

New Tampa’s median home price is currently up to $380,000, but the normal rate of appreciation says it should be $407,570.

“We haven’t even gotten back to normal yet,” says Darragh. “There’s still plenty of room to run before you even see a bubble.”

That means “deals” can still be found. 

In other areas of Tampa, the average “Sold” price far exceeds the price in a market with a normal rate of appreciation. In South Tampa, for example, it’s $175,000 over normal market value; in Carrollwood, it’s $125,000 over; in Seminole Heights, it’s plus-$120,000; and, in Wesley Chapel, it’s almost $100,000 over.

It’s a befuddling market and, while there are plenty of online options to do your home shopping, selecting the right Realtor might be the most important decision you ever make. It is a sentiment strongly echoed by Henry, Beck and Nye, because the market is more complicated and moving faster than ever. 

“If you ever needed a local expert, it’s now,” Darragh says.

It’s Kind Of Awesome To Live In ‘Champa’ Bay These Days!

Tom Brady hoists the Lombardi Trophy after leading Tampa Bay to a Super Bowl victory.

When I first moved back to Florida in 1993, the Tampa Bay Lightning had just completed their first season in the National Hockey League — at the Expo Hall at the Florida State Fairgrounds in unincorporated Hillsborough County.

And, one of the reasons I moved to Florida from Westchester County, NY, was because Tampa Bay was rumored to be getting not just an expansion baseball franchise, but my beloved San Francisco Giants were supposed to be leaving Candlestick Park to come to our area and I wanted to publish a Giants magazine.

Gary Nager, Editorial

Well, as the saying goes, the best laid plans of mice and Giants often go astray, and the Giants never moved here, but the Nagers still did. Five years later, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were finally born as a Major League Baseball expansion franchise.

And, when I moved here in 1993, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were simply awful.

After going 0-14 in their first year (1976), the Bucs made the playoffs for the first time in 1979, and two more times in 1981 and ‘82, but then went 15 years before their next postseason game, under second-year coach Tony Dungy. Their record during that span was a dismal 100-223, which means they won less than a third of their all-time games from their inception through my third year of owning the Neighborhood News. Even so, you’d never know it if you talked to any fan who was from any part of the Bay area. 

The Bucs’ fans were almost cult-like, despite their creamsicle-colored uniforms, long before Dungy became the coach. I remember being threatened by a bar owner in New Port Richey for suggesting that he turn his largest-screen TV off a Bucs preseason game. He told me, “We’re all Bucs fans here, son. If you don’t like it, I invite you and your family to leave.”

But oh, how the Tampa Bay area’s sports franchises have risen. In perhaps the hardest year for sports ever, as virtually everyone in the country now knows, the Tampa Bay Lightning won the 2020 Stanley Cup (the team’s second), the Tampa Bay Rays made it to the World Series for the second time and the Tampa Bay Bucs capped their 2020 season with a dominating 31-9 win over the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs the day before we went to press with this issue — the team’s second time hoisting the Vince Lombardi trophy (photo).

It historically hasn’t been an easy time rooting for the local major sports franchises, especially, this Covid-crazy year, but how rewarding has it been? 

Who would have thought that the Bolts would come back from the previous season’s devastating sweep at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round of the 2019 playoffs? Who would have thought that the Rays, with one of MLB’s lowest payrolls, would beat out the Red Sox, Yankees and defending American League champion Astros to advance to the World Series? And, who would have thought that the Bucs would go from being a 7-5 playoff pretender with a questionable defense and a finally-old-looking 43-year-old QB to reel off eight consecutive wins, including decisive victories over Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints, Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers and the seemingly unbeatable Pat Mahomes and the Chiefs? Out of nowhere, we won eight consecutive games with a top-level defense and Tom Brady looking like, well, the Brady who had won six Super Bowls with the Patriots.

Wow. If not for The Weekend’s worst-ever halftime performance and Covid forcing most local fans to stay away from the first-ever Super Bowl played and won by a team in its own stadium, Brady, head coach Bruce Arians, offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich and defensive coordinator Todd Bowles finished off an almost perfect game to give the GOAT his seventh win and fifth Super Bowl MVP award. 

Congrats to the health care heroes who got to attend the game for free. I salute you and your efforts to keep as many of us as possible alive during this plague even more than I salute the Bucs, the Bolts, the Rays and even MLS’s Tampa Bay Rowdies for providing the best-possible distractions during this most difficult year. Way to go, Champa Bay!

The ExerScience Center Approach Is Whole-Body Wellness

Dr. Lauren Leiva has used her own past physical adversities to forge a plan for clients dealing with a myriad of injury reghab and chronic pain issues at The ExerScience Center in Lutz. That plan often includes the Neubie machine from NeuFit, which uses electrical stimulation to help re-educate your neuromuscular systems.(Photo: Charmaine George)

Lauren Leiva is not just an experienced personal trainer, passionate yogi and certified nutrition expert, she also is a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT). That means she has the knowledge, expertise and advanced degree to help ensure her patients become healthier, stronger and pain-free.

At her ExerScience Center in Lutz, Dr. Leiva offers physical therapy, personal training, nutrition, group fitness and yoga, all with the goal of helping people to feel their best.

Dr. Leiva earned her DPT degree from Nova Southeastern University in Tampa. Prior to that, she earned Bachelor of Science degrees in both Biomedical Science and Biomedical Physics from the University of South Florida, also in Tampa. In addition to her degrees, she is certified by the National Academy of Sports Medicine as a Certified Personal Trainer and a Fitness Nutrition Specialist, among other certifications. 

Dr. Lauren Leiva

She also is a registered Yoga Teacher (or RYT), a designation given by the Yoga Alliance U.S to an individual who has completed the 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training Certification. (Lauren’s was earned through YogaFit Training Systems, which is recognized by the Yoga Alliance U.S.)

While Dr. Leiva originally launched The ExerScience Center in 2015, she opened the doors of her first brick-and-mortar location on S.R. 54 in Lutz (less than two miles from the Tampa Premium Outlets) just this past November. Previously, Dr. Leiva traveled to her patients and to community centers, where she taught group fitness and yoga classes.

She says that the road to her doctorate degree was winding, with a detour when she had to leave school to care for her mom, who had lung cancer and suffered a stroke. Then, she suffered her own medical crisis.

A lifelong survivor of Crohn’s disease, Dr. Leiva’s second pregnancy put her in the hospital, where she stayed for nine months. She says at that time, yoga saved her life.

 “Yoga is not a class, it’s a way of life,” she says. “Posture and pose movements are only one part of yoga. It’s a mind-over-matter philosophy.”

With both her own and her unborn baby’s lives in danger, and even when Dr. Leiva was intubated and then later had to use a colostomy bag, she says she had a strong belief she was going to be okay.

“It was yoga, and the ability to have that mind-over-matter spirit when surgeons and everyone else told me I can’t and I won’t,” she says. “I always believed that I could, and I did. I feel I can triumph over anything.”

She shares that spirit with her patients, who appreciate her energy and optimism.

But, Can She Help You?

Dr. Leiva says she treats and trains “everyone,” from people who are paralyzed or have a spinal cord injury, all the way to elite athletes, including Olympians. She currently is working with Raj Dhesi, known as Jinder Mahal or “The Maharaja,” a former WWE wrestling champion.

“I grew up as an athlete — a figure skater, and I played volleyball,” Dr. Leiva says. “But, having been completely disabled myself at times gives me the compassion to treat others. I have a connection with patients who are not able to walk, talk or find their breath.”

She says that helps her to successfully treat people who haven’t been able to find solutions elsewhere, from eliminating chronic or injury-caused pain to avoiding surgery.

 Dr. Leiva (with her new purple hair) provides a variety of exercises and yoga to help clients recovering from injuries or surgery regain their strength and full range of motion.

In part, she says, that’s because of her well-rounded education and doctorate in physical therapy, but also her background in both personal training and yoga.

“Prior to (physical therapy) school, with everything I’d studied, I had a lot of knowledge,” she says. “I thought being a DPT would make me stand out as a personal trainer.”

She says her goal was to open a gym and have her business focus on personal training and yoga, and that she never considered being a DPT in a hospital or other traditional setting. She also had a drive to finish what she had started after facing so much personal adversity.

But, what Dr. Leiva also found was that she fell in love with physical therapy, too. Now, she says most of her business is physical therapy.

She says her specialty is neuromuscular re-education, such as treating a spinal cord injury or an athlete’s torn tendon, or helping people recover from surgery.

“We make the body its most functional form possible, whether you’re paralyzed, or an elite athlete, or anywhere in between,” she says. “Anybody can become their best self by training their nervous system. We can strengthen everyone’s muscles, whether they have pain or not.”

The ExerScience Center offers memberships, where patients spend an hour each week at the center, working on different modalities. This may include biohacking — which she describes as tapping into your own biology to manipulate certain variables for optimal results — or electrical stimulation, vibration therapy, infrared sauna, halotherapy (aka salt therapy), or other types of treatment.

The center offers the latest technology in PT, including a machine called the Neubie by NeuFit, a patented electrical stimulation device to help re-educate your neuromuscular system.

Perhaps most important of all, she says, is that she treats everyone with empathy, respect and honesty. “We respect the body and the mind,” she says. “‘No pain, no gain’ does not apply in my center.”

To help patients who can’t afford regular memberships, Dr. Leiva also hosts community clinics once a month with opportunities for low-cost physical therapy evaluations and second opinions. 

In February, Dr. Leiva says she will become certified in dry needling (similar to acupuncture, but used by physical therapists). “I’m an innovative therapist,” she says, “and I think it’s important to always be learning all of the newest and best therapeutic methods. So, I am always studying, always learning.”

Melenda Watzke has been a patient of The ExerScience Center for several months. 

“I’m a dancer, and I hurt my back,” Melenda says. “I live about 45 minutes away, but that first time I met with Dr. Leiva, I knew the drive was worth it.”

Melenda says she’s seen a lot of change in her body, and not only has she been healed from her pain, but Dr. Leiva has treated other problems that Melenda didn’t know she had.

“She’s very intuitive and she listens,” says Melenda. “She looks at you holistically and listens to everything you say.”

In fact, Melenda says she had no idea that she didn’t know how to breathe properly. “No one pulls you aside and says, “This is how you breathe,’” Melenda explains. “But, she doesn’t assume you know anything. She watches, and then she starts correcting.”

Melenda says the instruction has helped her to dramatically reduce stress. 

“She is truly a healer in my eyes,” says Melenda. “After my back pain went away, I just kept going and everything is starting to change on me physically. I didn’t know how weak I was in certain places because I’m so strong in other places. I can’t wait to see what we’re going to work on next.”

Gazelle Stevens is another happy patient of Dr. Leiva’s. She has been going to The ExerScience Center for about two months.

“I’ve had a great experience,” she says, as Dr. Leiva has treated her for pain stemming from several herniated disks in her back and neck, and a labral tear in her hip.

“I’m a fitness instructor, so it’s very taxing on my body when I have these issues and I can’t teach,” Gazelle says. “I had tried a bunch of other methods and nothing was helping. But, I felt a huge difference (with Dr. Leiva) within the first two weeks.”

Gazelle says she’s done physical therapy at other offices, but it’s been totally different, and that she gets much more individual attention at The ExerScience Center.

“Dr. Lauren is very knowledgeable, and also very understanding, from that patient perspective,” explains Gazelle. “She understands what it means to be in pain and not get answers. I try to be more holistic, with a wellness approach, not, ‘give me a shot’ or ‘give me surgery.’ A lot of people are in that mindset, and she’s really good for that.”

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, The ExerScience Center has paused all in-person group fitness classes and switched the focus to online classes. The staff follows all cleaning and precautionary procedures set in place by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) & Prevention, as well as state and county guidelines. The center does not currently accept walk-ins, and anyone with an appointment is screened, including a temperature check, before they come in.

The ExerScience Center staff includes not only Dr. Leiva, but also office manager Elizabeth Sanchez, and receptionists Marilu Sanchez (not related to Elizabeth) and Jennifer Barrett.

Dr. Lauren Leiva is married to Jonathan, who owns Leiva’s Jewelry in New Tampa. Their two sons are Elijah, who is 13, and Alexander Joseph, who is four.

The ExerScience Center is located at 24706 S.R. 54, in Lutz, less than two miles west of the Tampa Premium Outlets. For more information, call (813) 803-7070, see the ad on pg. 23, or visit TheExerScienceCenter.com.

Townhomes Seem Headed For Cross Creek Blvd.; Apts. Open In Hunter’s Lake

A rezoning ordinance for a pair of proposed townhome projects towards the eastern end of Cross Creek Blvd., which would bring about 100 new residences to the area, sailed though first readings (with a few concessions) during a late night Tampa City Council hearing on Jan. 21, by a 5-1 vote.

A second reading, followed by what seems to be a likely approval, is scheduled for Tuesday, February 19, at 9:30 a.m.

The two communities are in the District 7 represented by Luis Viera, the only Council member to vote against both projects. District 2 Council member Charlie Miranda did not attend the meeting because he has Covid-19.

SDD Trust, Inc., is seeking to have the two properties rezoned from PD-A (planned development-alternative) to PD (planned development).

One parcel is located at 10801 Cross Creek Blvd, east of the New Tampa Dance Theatre and directly across the street from the entrance to the Heritage Isles community, and will have nine buildings with 60 attached single-family residences. 

A little further east, a second parcel will have six buildings and 35 single-family residences. The city’s Development Review and Compliance staff found the rezoning requests inconsistent with City of Tampa Land Development regulations, but SDD Trust sought waivers to remedy those inconsistencies, mostly related to building separation requirements, the removal of three grand live oak trees and retaining less than 50 percent of the existing trees on the property.

The waivers were granted on the first reading by the City Council.

The projects also were determined by city planners to not meet some Mixed Use Corridor policies. Mixed Use Corridors are areas that, among other things, are expected to improve the pedestrian experience, but because the front of single-family residences will face away from Cross Creek Blvd., those requirements weren’t being met. However, there is no other way to reconfigure the homes, so a six-foot-high simulated wrought iron fence (actually made of aluminum) with landscaping will need to be added to the design before the second reading.

Viera suggested the fence for safety reasons and the general aesthetic look, even though he voted against the project.

After some debate about the cost of adding a fence and how it would impact the amount of landscaping, the first reading was moved along with a vote at 1:25 a.m.

The Trails At Hunter’s Lake

Speaking of more New Tampa residences, The Trails at Hunter’s Lake, which promises “Naturally elevated living,” is open and already filling up.

The apartments, which offer 15 floor plans, are behind the new Village at Hunter’s Lake shopping center. The Trails, according to its website, has a private lake and lush walking trails, a billiards lounge and pub, and its location — in the heart of New Tampa near plenty of shopping and eating destinations as well as being just a mile away from I-75 — makes it an attractive place to live. 

It also is just feet away from the New Tampa Performing Arts Center, which is expected to be completed by Jan. 2022, and a large dog park.

The Trails has 1BR/1BA floor plans ranging 659 square feet to $798 sq. ft. (with prices ranging from $1,365 to $1,792), 2BR/2BA floor plans with 1,100 sq. ft. and prices from $1,776-$1978, two 3BR/2BA floor plans (1,291 and 1,393 sq. ft.), for $1,951 to $3,958, and a studio floor plan of 506 sq. ft. (no price listed).

For more info, call (813) 497-4889 or visit TrailsAtHuntersLake.com.

Yes, We VidaCann!

The sign is up for VidaCann, New Tampa’s first medical cannabis dispensary, which we are told will be open by the end of this month. New Tampa’s VidaCann (17631 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., in the former The Mattress1 store next to MIT Computers), will be the 19th VidaCann dispensary in Florida. For more information, visit VidaCann.com.

Bucs-Chiefs: Who you got?

Tom Brady (All-Pro Reels Photography)

When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers went out and signed quarterback and six-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady last year, they did it with one purpose in mind:

To be the first-ever NFL team to host a Super Bowl in its home stadium.

And now, here they are.

On Sunday, the Bucs (11-5 during the regular 2020 season) will meet the Kansas City Chiefs (14-2) at 6:30 p.m. in Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

Yes, this will be the first time in 55 championship games that a team will be playing the Big Games in its home stadium. Will that make a difference? Maybe. Due to Covid-19, only 22,000 fans, including 7,500 vaccinated health care workers, will be allowed to attend, and there will be little of the usual pre-game hype. In fact, the Chiefs opened as 3-point favorites.

It will be the 10th Super Bowl for Brady, and just the second for Bucs, who beat the Oakland Raiders 48-21 in 2003 in their only other appearance.

Brady threw for 4,633 yards and 40 TDs this season and is widely considered the greatest quarterback of all time. He will face off against the guy many feel is his heir apparent in Patrick Mahomes, who led the Chiefs to their first Super Bowl victory in 50 years last year.

Mahomes (4,740 yards, 38 TDs, with only six interceptions) has the NFL’s best QB rating against the blitz, which may neutralize one of the Bucs’ defensive strengths. He has dangerous pass-catching weapons in WR Tyreek Hill (1,276 yards, 15 TDs) and TE Travis Kelce (1,416 yards, 11 TDs), and a stable of running backs are talented but have been banged up this season. The offense is probably the most explosive in the league, so the Bucs will have to expose a Chiefs offensive line that has not looked great at times this season and has a slew of injuries.

Mahomes will be trying to win his second consecutive championship when the Bucs host the Chiefs at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday. (Photo: Jeffrey Beal)

Like Mahomes, Brady has a talented host of weapons to throw to, like WRs Mike Evans (1,006 yards, 13 TDs, but two big drops in the NFC title game) and Chris Godwin (840 yards, 7 TDs), and tight end Rob Gronkowski (623 yards, 7 TDs), who is no stranger to catching touchdowns from Brady in Super Bowls when both were with New England.

The Bucs’ offensive line has looked better as the season has progressed, but running backs Leonard Fournette and Ronald Jones have been inconsistent.

However, the Bucs’ defense, led by rising star linebacker Devin White, has come up big this season, and managed to hold the Green Bay Packers to three-and-outs after all three of Brady’s interceptions in the NFC Championship game win.

It may sound cliché, but with both offenses clicking on all cylinders, it could come down to whichever defense makes the most stops, like it did when the Bucs stopped the Packers three times inside the 10 to force a field goal late and seal the win.

By making the Super Bowl, the Bucs have already capped the best year in Tampa Bay sports history, joining the World Series-runner-up Rays and Stanley Cup champion Lightning in making their league championships. 

A victory in America’s popular sport on the biggest stage of them all would only make it sweeter.

Can they do it? We’ll see, but go Bucs!

OUR PREDICTIONS:

JOHN: It’s going to be a shootout, and I thought Brady looked a little shaky in the NFC Championship game. I’ll take the best quarterback and most dangerous receivers. I feel dirty, but Chiefs 33-22. 

GARY: Both defenses played great football in their respective championship games, but I’ll take Brady’s experience over Mahomes’ youth this year, as long as Mike Evans doesn’t keep dropping passes. Bucs 34-27! 

WHERE TO WATCH IN NEW TAMPA

The Super Bowl party is one of the great American traditions of the Big Game, but with Covid-19 still rearing its ugly head, we suggest taking great care. If you insist on watching the game with other fans and don’t have a party to attend, here are some local suggestions:

Peabody’s Billiards & Games: After 21 years, the longtime Tampa Palms hangout has been completely renovated and has a fresh, modern look. It is offering $3.25 pints of beer and $5 Jameson Whiskey shots for the Super Bowl, as well as specials on buckets of beer bottles and a wing and pitcher combo special. They tell us there will be plenty of giveaways and swag, too, including a couple of folding lawn chairs and a cooler. There will be strict adherence to CDC guidelines, including a limit on capacity. For more information, call (813) 972-1725 or visit PeabodysTampa.com.

Glory Days Grill: One of New Tampa’s most popular gathering places for Sunday football games is having a $25 all-you-can-eat special menu, but you need to make reservations. There will be drink specials and giveaways between quarters, but you better hurry because they tell us they are almost all booked. For more information, call (813) 513-7550, or visit GloryDaysGrill.com.

The Fat Rabbit: Fat Rabbit will open at 11:30 a.m. on Super Bowl Sunday, but the festivities won’t begin until 4 p.m. The Tampa Palms favorite usually has happy hour until 5 p.m. but will be extending it through the game. There also will be wing specials —  even for those ordering pickup! — all day. For info, call (813) 252-3004 or visit “The Fat Rabbit Pub” on Facebook.

Stonewood Grill & Tavern: Stonewood is known for being a great restaurant, but the restaurant and its fun bar normally aren’t open Sunday nights, but it will be open for the Super Bowl. Brunch is 11-2:30 a.m., and happy hour will run until 7 p.m. Catering also is available for anyone hosting their own Super Bowl party, too. 

For more information, call (813) 978-0388 or visit StonewoodGrill.com.