Category: News

Business Study Results Meeting Tonight!

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor will be on hand as the findings of a New Tampa business climate study by the University of South Florida School of Public Affairs — triggered last year by concerns over the number of businesses closing in our area — will be revealed at a community meeting on Monday, February 3, 6 p.m.

Castor was briefed on the results of the study on Jan. 27, and will deliver introductory remarks at the meeting, which will be held at Compton Park (16101 Compton Dr.) in Tampa Palms.

Tampa District 7 City Council member Luis Viera will host the meeting, which he first helped spearhead last year after he said he received phone calls and emails from constituents — as did Castor — who were concerned about the closing of local businesses.

In early 2019, the Neighborhood News, after receiving many of those same calls, addressed the issue of the closings since 2017 of stores like HH Gregg, Staples and Bed Bath & Beyond in the Market Square at Tampa Palms Plaza, as well as restaurants like Casa Ramos in Tampa Palms and Ruby Tuesday on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd just north of I-75, also have been shuttered, and two Mexican restaurants have failed at the site of the one-time Romano’s Macaroni Grill.

Others, including popular local restaurants like Las Palmas (which reopened in a different location in New Tampa) and Café Olé, as well as former local staples Beef O’Brady’s, Boston Market and Dairy Queen also have shut down over the past few years.

USF’s School of Public Affairs and its director Ron Sanders agreed to take on the project of studying New Tampa’s business climate, along with graduate students working towards their Master’s degree in Urban & Regional Planning.

“The meeting will reveal those findings, and then those in attendance can weigh in,” Viera said. “It will be interesting to see what they found, and if we have a challenge, how to face it.”

Four students volunteered to conduct the study. At a meeting in July, they heard from close to 100 people who attended a meeting with Viera, District 2 Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan and District 63 State Representative Fentrice Driskell.

While some community members expressed worry, others were confident New Tampa would bounce back, in part due to the sometimes-cyclical nature of business.

Since that meeting, in fact, a number of the local businesses that had been vacated have announced new tenants. The Brunchery (Boston Market), Urban Air Adventure Park (HH Gregg), Taza Market (Staples), Regina Margherita, which was formerly Chefs of Napoli (Beef O’Brady’s) are either open or close to it, while Aldi is looking into taking over the old Ruby Tuesday location.

And, as we reported last issue, even the long-vacant Sweetbay supermarket could have a new tenant signed up by the end of 2020.

“We have seen some positive changes,” Viera says. “I still think there’s some cause for concern, but at the very least, this is something that tells us about the business markers and growth in New Tampa, and what we need to do to keep the momentum going. We want to make sure our area does not deteriorate.”

Viera says the study also should provide some insight into some of the transportation challenges local businesses face, as well as how the design of New Tampa, especially along BBD, plays into commercial success.

To RSVP to attend the community meeting since seating is limited, you can email brannon.jordanlazo@tampagov.net.

Business study Ruby Tuesday

Urban Air Adventure Park Opens!

Dear New Tampa Families with Young Kids:

You may not have to go to Brandon for all of your birthday parties anymore!

On Jan. 25, Urban Air Adventure Park opened in the Market Square at Tampa Palms plaza on Commerce Park Blvd., Filling a pretty significant and long-standing void for those who have families in the New Tampa community.

While New Tampa has never lacked for good neighborhoods with community parks, good schools and just enough youth sports programs and restaurants to keep you busy on a weekend, one standard complaint has always been: There’s nowhere to take your kids for fun.

Now, there is.

“I think this will be a hit,” said assistant general manager Chris Schade, a Live Oak resident. “It’s a great concept, especially for the New Tampa area.”

The Dallas-based adventure center is owned by Sarasota businessman Michael Tucci, who says he has a number of relatives that live nearby. He said he was always drawn to the area, and when he decided to buy two franchises, Tampa was a definite destination.

“This is a great spot,” Tucci said. “We knew there was nothing else like it in the area and thought it would be the perfect fit.”

The indoor attractions feature really cool Flip Zone and Spin Zone bumper cars, a high-wire ropes course, a Sky Rider, a Warrior Course, Battle Beam, dodgeball courts, rock walls, trampolines and areas for younger kids.

There are six rooms for hosting parties, food and drink and various pricing plans (Basic to Ultimate) and park memberships (which can be charged monthly).

Schade said he was happy to see a dormant, 28,000-sq.-ft. building that had been closed for a couple of years, after HH Gregg went out of business, spring back to life.

“We feel like we’re helping to revitalize the New Tampa area,” he says. In fact, in 2019, Urban Air announced it was taking over a number of old HH Gregg sites — in Augusta, GA; Akron, OH; Montrose, CO and Wellington, FL, in addition to Tampa Palms, to name a few.

It was unofficially announced in September that Urban Air would be opening a New Tampa location, and it only took a few months to renovate and redesign the old HH Gregg before opening. At a pre-opening VIP event on Jan. 23 that we attended, workers were still hurrying to put on a few final touches.

Sarah Tengali, who drew high fives from employees after completing the difficult Warrior Course without falling into the ball pit below, and her son Rocco, rushed from attraction to attraction, laughing and working up a sweat. Sarah’s favorite was the Sky Rider, where riders strap in and twist and turn as they fly above (and all around) the adventure park.

Rocco said his favorite was The Wipeout, where you have to jump over or duck under large swinging arms. “Everything,” Rocco said, “is awesome.”

Urban Air Adventure Park is located at 6250 Commerce Palms Dr. For more info, visit UrbanAirTrampolinePark.com or call (813) 522-5401. And please be sure to tell Chris and the staff that you read about them on Page 1 of the New Tampa Neighborhood News!

Urban Air Adventure Park

Urban Air Adventure Park Set Open In Tampa Palms Jan. 25!

It won’t be long before Wesley Chapel has its own “trampoline park” at The Grove, and it’s own bowling and laser tag center at Main Event on S.R. 56, but Urban Air Adventure Park will beat both of them to the punch when it opens next week in Tampa Palms.

Urban Air Adventure Park will hold its Grand Opening on Saturday, January 25, 10 a.m. The entertainment center is located at 6250 Commerce Palms Dr. in the Market Square at Tampa Palms shopping center anchored by BJ’s Wholesale Club.

Similar to openings at new Chick-Fil-As and Wawas, assistant general manager Chris Schade says the opening of the 28,000-sq.-ft. facility will be an “event.” At other Urban Air openings, he says people have camped overnight for a chance to be one of the 200 to win free access to the adventure center for a year. Schade says a DJ will be on hand the morning of the Grand Opening, and there also will be donuts and other goodies.

Urban Air Adventure Park is a Texas-based entertainment center franchise with locations all over the U.S.. The New Tampa location will be the company’s 10th in Florida, which includes centers in nearby Lakeland and Port Richey.

While broadly described by many as a “trampoline park,” Schade says the label really doesn’t do the new facility justice.

While there will be trampolines for jumping, the Tampa Palms Urban Air Adventure Park also includes a timed warrior course, bumper cars, dedicated dodgeball courts, rock walls and a kids area for youngsters that includes a 25-foot spiral slide.

There are also two rides that require harnesses — a Sky Coaster that circles high above the guests, and a ropes course.

“We’re able to give the little kids their own little area, and still let the bigger kids do what they want to do,” Schade says.

The Adventure Park’s on-site café will offer pizza, chicken wings and tenders, as well as beer and wine, including local craft beer favorites.

“We really want to get rid of that stigma that we’re just a trampoline park,” Schade says. “We can cater to everyone from toddlers all the way up to companies doing team-building exercises.”

For additional information, visit UrbanAirNewTampa.com.

Wesley Chapel Business Happenings

CRYSTAL CLEAR SHOPPING?: According to preliminary plans filed with Pasco County, a grocery store, six retail stores and a fitness center are being planned for the area around the entrance to Epperson, home of the country’s first Crystal Lagoons® amenity.

Filed by Minneapolis-based commercial real estate developer Ryan Companies, the plans for the northwest corner of the Overpass Rd./Curley Rd. intersection don’t specifically name any tenants but show a large health/fitness center abutting the easternmost end of the Crystal Lagoon, with a medical/emergency building to the south.

Closest to Curley Rd. is a planned grocery store, with one large retail space and five others about half the size and 996 total parking spaces for the development.

Ryan Companies and Metro Development Group had a scheduled meeting with Pasco planners to discuss the commercial development on Dec. 10, 2019.

Metro Development is developing Epperson, which will have roughly 2,000 homes, as part of the Connected City project, which will be the nation’s first gigabit community. The community’s prime amenity is the 7.5-acre lagoon, the first of its kind constructed in the U.S., although the area just north of Wesley Chapel along I-75 is getting an even larger lagoon (scheduled to open this year) in Metro’s Mirada development.

MORE CARS, TOO: Representatives of the Morgan Auto Group are scheduled to meet with county planners on Jan. 27 as Morgan moves forward with plans to build a new BMW dealership on S.R. 56.

According to plans filed with the county, the seven-story, 133,000-sq.-ft. dealership will abut the west side of Morgan’s MINI of Wesley Chapel dealership on S.R. 56, just east of I-75.

BMW had previously filed paperwork with the county, and scheduled a pre-application meeting, in the hopes of building a 32,758-sq.-ft. showroom at S.R. 56 and Mansfield Blvd.

The BMW dealership would join other luxury dealers that have opened in Wesley Chapel in recent years, like Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Lexus.

Plans are still working their way through permitting for a Volkswagen dealership right across S.R. 56 from MINI of Wesley Chapel. Those plans call for a 27,845-sq.-ft. dealership.

And, plans for a 21,232-sq.-ft. car dealership at the southwest corner of Eagleston Blvd. and Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in Seven Oaks — just east and across Eagleston Blvd. from Wesley Chapel Toyota and Lexus of Wesley Chapel — also is under review by the county.

tampa palms Urban Air Adventure

Container Park Signs More, Submits Plans To Pasco

Developer Mark Gold isn’t exactly sure what made him settle on creating a one-of-a-kind shipping container park as part of his next big project.

He says he knew he wanted something green, and he wanted something small, and he wanted something unique.

“I wanted it to be different than everyone else,” he says.

It sure looks like that will be the case.

Conceptual plans for the park, which will officially be named Krate by Gold Box and be home to nearly 100 tenants running their businesses from modified shipping crates, were officially filed with Pasco County last month.

Krate is just one part, but perhaps the crown jewel, of The Grove project, which is transforming the old, worn-down retail center into a major Wesley Chapel hub. Mishorim-Gold Properties, a partnership between Gold and Mishorim Real Estate, bought the 200+ acres, including all of the existing structures in The Grove, for $62.7 million last year.

Phase 1 of Krate will be built on nearly 7 acres of land just west of I-75 and east of The Grove’s big box retail stores like Best Buy and Dick’s Sporting Goods.

Krate plans to have 87 tenants (many using multiple crates), 172 parking spaces, and a stage for bands and competitions that will be flanked by a pavilion and a children’s playground.

But, the biggest selling point, says Gold, is the opportunity for local residents to open their own businesses.

“We are building small spaces to give big opportunities to people,” Gold says. “We want this to be more mom and pop.”

He has 27 restaurants already with signed leases, although he says he is hoping for more service-based businesses. Most of the crates are already under contract and will start arriving in a few weeks.

He expects Krate will be up and running in 6-8 months.

“People are going to drive one hour, one-and-a-half hours to see this concept,” Gold says. “If I had built a shopping center, people would say ‘What is the big deal?’ But this is a shopping center built with containers with parking and lights and sidewalks and activity, lots of activity.”

While often compared to Sparkman Wharf at the Channelside Bay Plaza in downtown Tampa, Gold says he has visited the Tampa crate park and says “they do not compare.” He compared Sparkman Wharf to food trucks with no wheels where you eat outside, whereas Krate’s containers will be actual restaurants with many offering indoor and outdoor seating.

“This concept, I think, is the only one like it in the world,” Gold says.

At The Grove, where Gold is filling once empty buildings with fitness and yoga studios, a craft brewery, a dueling piano bar, Italian eateries and even an axe throwing bar while dubbing it “The Village,” variety is the spice of life, and he takes great pride in what Krate will offer.

Among his 27 restaurants are zero chains and places offering Cajun, Chinese, Colombian, Cuban, Dutch, French, Japanese, Italian, Puerto Rican, Thai and Vegan food, as well as other places serving cupcakes, ice cream, falafel, sandwiches, juices and even a mojito lab.

“People will drive here just for the variety,” Gold says.

He is so confident the concept is ready to take off, he says he already has plans to develop other Krate by Gold Box container concepts across the country. His second site, in Raleigh, NC., where he has two other developments, already has been picked out.

Meanwhile, here in Wesley Chapel, Gold’s office, in the heart of The Grove property that he is confident will one day be considered downtown Wesley Chapel, is bustling. He moves from one meeting to another, exchanging info with daughter Keren, the property’s leasing representative. There seems to rarely be a time where a prospective tenant isn’t talking to one of them, or waiting their turn.

“I love it,” he says. “People want something else, something different, and we are going to give it to them.”

The Grove

Vice President Pence To Visit

Vice President Mike Pence is coming to town.

The Venetian Event Center at St. Mark The Evangelist Catholic Church on Cross Creek Blvd. in New Tampa, which in addition to weddings has hosted a few political townhalls organized by city councilperson Luis Viera as well as a City of Tampa mayoral debate in 2019, will be the site when Pence visits next week for a re-election rally for President Donald Trump.

Pence will lead the “Keep America Great” rally Thursday, January 16 at 1:30 p.m. at the Venetian, which is located at 9724 Cross Creek Blvd.

Venetian director of marketing and communications for the center, Valerie Mainguy, confirmed that The Venetian had been rented by the Trump campaign, but said she had no idea what they would be doing there, or who would even be there.

She said the event center could only hold 1,000 people, according to City of Tampa fire code.

To register for tickets for the event, go here: https://www.donaldjtrump.com/events/keep-america-great-event-with-vice-president-mike-pence-in-wimauma-fl

The decision to come to New Tampa was a last-minute one, as the rally was originally scheduled for the Valencia Lakes retirement community in Wimauma. But FloridaPolitics.com reported that complaints from Valencia Lakes residents and protests from the property owners association board forced the event to be moved.

According to Florida Politics, one of the complaints was that many attendees would be bused in and would overwhelm the private, gated community.

Some in New Tampa have similar concerns, especially since the event could conclude right around the same time that kids are getting out of school.

Cross Creek resident Cindy Kelly wrote on her Facebook page that “No matter your political leanings, hosting this event at St. Mark’s at 1:30 on a Thursday afternoon is not a good idea. At a minimum, how will Wharton and Benito kids get home from school if they live on either side of the church? We have enough of a challenge with traffic in New Tampa. Tiny Cross Creek (Blvd.) does not have the infrastructure to host this event.”

Asked about how the Venetian Event Center planned to deal with any traffic issues, Mainguy said: “They (the campaign) are taking care of all of that.”

Mainguy refused to provide any other information about the event. “We just rent the building,” she said.

Tampa city councilmember Luis Viera (left) and Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan hosted a townhall at the Venetian Event Center. (Photo: John C. Cotey)

Viera took to the local community website NextDoor.com to alert local residents about the Pence rally.

“When the Vice President of the United States arrives, there is the obvious justified heavy security presence with accompanying traffic challenges, etc.,” Viera wrote. “I have alerted our School Board member Cindy Stuart and am told that the School District is aware and on it.

“Therefore, if your child or children go to a school on or near Cross Creek, or you live in the area, just be aware before you plan your day if this event goes forward. I assume that the District will release a plan, but FYI for school and other purposes.“

The New Tampa Democrats cited some of the same traffic concerns in a Facebook post, in addition to the costs and potential protest rallies – a Rally Against Mike Pence page for that date is already up on Facebook – and are encouraging people to call St. Mark to ask that the rally be moved.

Pence is in Florida to help shore up Trump’s support among Hispanic voters — he’ll attend a second event in Kissimmee after his New Tampa visit — but Hillsborough County is a focus for Republicans as well.

While New Tampa has long been considered a red, or Republican area, it has been more fertile ground in recent elections for Democrats.

In 2016, President Trump may have been elected nationwide and won Florida, but Democrat Hillary Clinton won every New Tampa precinct by a combined 58-38 percent margin.

In 2018, Hillsborough County officially turned blue. In New Tampa, longtime local Republicans Shawn Harrison, the Dist. 63 State House Representative, and Hillsborough County Commissioner Victor Crist, were swept out of office by Fentrice Driskell and Mariella Smith, respectively, and neither race was particularly close.

Another Republican County commissioner, Ken Hagan lost all but two New Tampa precincts but still survived unknown political newcomer Angela Birdsong.

2020 election eledction pence