In campaign meetings with New Tampa community leaders and residents, former City of Tampa Police (TPD) Chief and mayoral candidate Jane Castor said the usual concerns were raised by those groups. But, along with traffic congestion, the conditions of roads and the affordability of homes, the topic of New Tampa businesses came up often.
âOne of the main issues was concern over a lack of sustained retail along Bruce B. Downs,â Castor says.
Castorâs thought was that while no single reason was given for what might be causing what some see as an exodus of restaurants and retailers â although congested local roads, access and the growth of Wesley Chapel were mentioned â she also says New Tampaâs business climate was worth looking at. âIâm excited about the study,â Castor says.
In a chance meeting shortly thereafter with Karen Kress, the director of Transportation and Planning for the Tampa Downtown Partnership, wheels were put in motion for a study that is now being organized by the University of South Floridaâs School of Public Affairs and director Ron Sanders, says Sam Becker, an intern for Kress, who attended one of Castorâs meetings with local groups. Afterwards, Becker had a discussion with Castor and Kress, and brought up the idea of a study to Sanders, who conducted a poll of graduate students working towards their Masterâs degree in Urban and Regional Planning.
Four students volunteered to conduct the study, which also will include input from local business leaders, District 7 Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera and the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce.
According to Sanders, the study, which is still being defined, will take place this summer and in two phases â one will be a âlistening tourâ that will be conducted through meetings held with focus groups of citizens and business owners, and two, there also will be a field study.
âWeâre still trying to find the parameters of the study, but the basic premise is to try to look at what is happening in New Tampa, the outmigration of some of the stores, and see if thereâs anything that can be done about it,â Sanders says.
District 7 Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera has been pushing for some kind of study, and he says he was pleased to learn USF would be involved.
Too Much Ado About It?
While there are some who feel the issue is overblown and that the current outmigration is simply part of a national trend thatâs the result of the cyclical nature of business combined with the ever-changing effect of e-commerce, Viera hopes the study will root out any potential underlying issues.
As weâve reported in previous issues, the Market Square at Tampa Palms plaza has seen HH Gregg, Staples and Bed Bath & Beyond close; 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.
There are signs of life, however. The old Dairy Queen on BBD is now a Jamaican restaurant (see ad on page 43), the Beef OâBradyâs on Cross Creek Blvd. is expected to reopen soon as an Italian eatery, and Las Palmas has re-opened in a different New Tampa location after the original location closed in 2018.
Also, The Village at Hunterâs Lake project will bring more than a dozen new businesses to New Tampa when it is completed.
âI think it is not clear how much (of the business closings) are consistent with national trends, or if itâs cyclical, or part of it is technology,â Sanders says. âIf itâs part of a macro trend, or national, itâs not clear how much can be done about it. But, weâll also look for local circumstances and conditions that may be driving it. Those are more addressable.â
Sanders also says the study will be ideal for his students, and that USF wants to be a good neighbor and lend a hand. If the study does produce something concrete, it could lead to the city conducting something âmore extensive and sophisticated.â
The study is still being developed, so how long it will take and when results will be published are unclear.
New Tampaâs first green grocer, Sprouts Farmers Market, is prepping construction on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. across from the main entrance Hunterâs Green, and according to the developerâs listing on its website, it already has some neighboring businesses waiting to move in as well.
Regency Centers, which is developing The Village at Hunterâs Lake project along with Harrison Bennett Properties, shows the 29,257-sq.-ft. Sprouts as the anchor of the much-anticipated mixed-use project, although there also are 12 other tenants ready to fill the retail shopping strip.
And, six of the retail spaces are still available. A map on the Regency Centers website lists a row of businesses that have apparently already signed leases, ranging from health and beauty businesses to a few places to grab a bite to eat or have a coffee.
The Village at Hunter’s Lake across from the Hunter’s Green entrance is starting to take shape.
The Village at Hunterâs Lake, which in total will have 71,397 sq. ft. of commercial space, will have â not surprisingly â a Starbucks, according to the website.
Three other places in the development will offer food and drink. Poke Island Plus, featuring traditional Hawaiian dishes of cubed raw fish and other fresh ingredients, is among them.
Poke is one of the hot, trendy food items in the country at the moment, and another similar restaurant, Poke Point, recently opened on the west side of BBD, a couple of miles north of AdventHealth Wesley Chapel.
It wonât be the only eatery offering healthy bowls of food in The Village at Hunter’s Lake. Grain & Berry, a quickly growing local chain that hopes to have 100 stores statewide by the end of the year, is also scheduled to lease a location in the commercial project.
Founded in 2017, Grain & Berry has seven locations in the Tampa Bay area (the nearest being on E. Fowler Ave.) and specializes in acai bowls.
Dubbing itself a superfoods cafe, Grain & Berry offers fresh pressed juices, hearty avocado toasts and international coffees, in addition to bowls filled with acai â a purple berry rich in antioxidants â and varieties of different fruits and grains.
But Wait, There’s More!
And, if youâre going to be looking for something maybe a little more hearty, Via Italia Woodfired Pizza & Bar is also listed on the Regency Centers website (as Double Zero Pizza) as headed to New Tampa.
Other spaces are leased by chains like Pure Beauty Salon, T-Mobile, Heartland Dental, Hair Cuttery, Pink & White Nails and Nationwide Vision Center.
The Coder School, a franchise founded in 2014 and headquartered in Silicon Valley that teaches computer coding to children year-round, also is slated to be located in the The Villages at Hunterâs Lake.
Permit requests also have been submitted to Hillsborough County to build two monument signs and a screen wall, as well as a 3,200-sq.-ft. Banfield Pet Hospital.
The Haven at Hunter’s Lake
Voicemail messages left at Regency Centers we’re not returned.
The Village at Hunterâs Lake project, originally approved by the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners by a 7-0 vote in 2014, will be built on an 80-acre parcel that also will include a 30,000-sq.-ft. New Tampa Cultural Center, a dog park and a four-story, 241-unit multi-family project to be called The Haven at Hunterâs Lake.
The project, located in the heart of New Tampa, has long been referred to as a potential âdowntownâ for our area, as well as the areaâs version of the popular and trendy Hyde Park development in South Tampa.
A self-described âlifelong thrifterâ who has always wanted to open her own business, Amber Wattâs dream has come true with her upscale resale boutique, Uptown Cheapskate, located in the former Ellenâs Hallmark space in the City Plaza at Tampa Palms shopping center.
Uptown Cheapskate opened on Nov. 8. Since then, the store has been growing in popularity, as men and women discover they can not only buy trendy, brand-name clothes at prices that are 70-90 percent off of retail prices, they also can sell their unwanted clothes for cash or store credit.
The store is part of a national franchise that started in Salt Lake City in 2009, and now has 70 locations across the U.S., including three in Florida. At 4,800 square feet, the Tampa Palms location is larger than most Uptown Cheapskate stores, which are typically about 3,000 square feet.
The large store means lots of inventory for shoppers, and itâs all kept organized and neat, to feel more like an upscale boutique.
And, the way Amber and the storeâs nine employees treat customers is boutique-like, too.
âCustomer service is our top priority,â says Amber. âWe greet every customer and will pull items out of back stock to help a customer find the perfect piece. Our staff continues to receive five-star reviews (on social media) for customer service.â
Angela Tamecki is one customer who has taken notice. âIâve shopped at resale shops for a long time because you get great deals,â says Angela, a Pebble Creek resident who says she used to drive to South Tampa to go to thrift shops, but now visits Uptown Cheapskate more than once a week. âItâs a different environment. I donât even think of it as a thrift store, because itâs more upscale.â
Angela says the storeâs staff members are warm and welcoming, coming out from behind the counter to help her.
âEven after Iâd only been there a couple times, they seem to know what brands I like,â she says. âIt really shows that they want to take care of their customers.â
Amber says that out of necessity, she shopped at Goodwill and other thrift stores growing up. After high school, she attended West Virginia University on a full academic scholarship, where she studied engineering.
She then worked as an industrial engineer in the aerospace industry for Boeing and Honeywell for 12 years.
She says, âI enjoyed the challenge of it and was proud of what I was working on,â including Chinook helicopters for the military. âBut it was always my goal to open my own business, and being an engineer was my stepping stone to get here.â
Clothes For A Good Cause
Uptown Cheapskate in Tampa Palms owner Amber Watt wants your old clothes before they end up in a landfill. Sheâll pay cash or give you a store credit, plus donate anything she doesnât buy.
Amber and her husband Zach have three elementary school-aged children. She says they are all supportive of her dream to own this business. She adds that Uptown Cheapskate is a perfect fit for her, with her love of fashion, experience with resale, and even her passion for caring for the environment.
âNorth America sends 9.5 million tons of clothing to landfills each year,â explains Amber. âRecycle them to Uptown Cheapskate instead! Even if you buy it used from us and then wear it a couple of times, if itâs still in great condition, sell it back to us. We donât want it to end up in a landfill.â
Sell Your Clothes, Too
Uptown Cheapskate accepts clothes for all seasons, all year long. That means you can sell your winter items now, even though no one is interested in buying them. Amber stores them until they are back in season and ready to go out on the sales floor.
Amber also says she is always in need of more clothes, especially menâs clothes. She promises the process is quick, and you can even drop off clothes and come back later for your cash payout or store credit. Sellers receive 25 percent more for their items if they choose store credit instead of cash.
Shoppers can save even more money if they both sell and buy on the same day. Because of tax laws, Amber says if you sell your clothes to Uptown Cheapskate and then use the store credit to make a same-day purchase, you donât have to pay the 8.5-percent Hillsborough County sales tax.
If your purchase amount exceeds the store credit offer, only the difference will be taxed. Unused store credits remain on your account for three years, but purchases made on future days do require sales tax to be paid on them.
Partners In The Community
Uptown Cheapskate gives back to the New Tampa community in several ways.
The store has a partnership with the Salvation Army. When you bring your clothes to sell to Uptown Cheapskate, any âno-thank-you itemsâ that the store doesnât purchase can be donated directly to Salvation Army, and you get a receipt, without having to make a second trip.
Amber also notes that Uptown Cheapskate partners with several local schools, including Wharton and Wiregrass Ranch high schools and Chiles Elementary, to offer gift certificates to a teacher or other staff member each month. She also provides gift certificates for a student recognition program at Wharton. Teachers and students also get a 15-percent discount every Monday.
The storeâs next popular âfill a bagâ sale is scheduled for Friday-Saturday, April 26-27. On those days, Uptown Cheapskate will provide a bag for customers to stuff all the specially-marked product they can fit, then take the entire bag home for $15. Anyone who participates in the sale also gets 15-percent off the rest of the items in the store.
âThe deals are amazing,â says Angela. âTheyâve got such a great inventory, including things I couldnât afford to splurge on in a retail store. Iâve seen everything from mall brands to Prada. I donât know how many people realize you can get those kinds of deals on things like that.â
So, if you like authentic â and I mean truly authentic â Jamaican cuisine, you really need to check out the new Hummingbird Jerk House, which opened at the end of last month in the space in North Palms Village (at 17631 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Unit F) formerly occupied by Dairy Queen (next to Oakleyâs Grille).
So, those who love braised oxtail, goat or chicken curry, jerk or brown stew chicken (or snapper; the sauce is amazing!), Jamaican beef patties, coco bread, cow foot and even escoveitch (photo below) â which is a whole snapper, fried, then covered with onions, sliced carrots, scotch bonnet, pepper and vinegar â this is your place.
I will say that every time Iâve been there, the place has been packed with happy diners, many of whom told me they were on their third or fourth visit, even though the place had only been open a month or so at our press time. Please note that the full menu listed at TheHummingbirdJerkHouse.com isnât yet always available, but owner Patrick Murrel and his staffâs daily menu board keeps getting closer to the full menu every time Iâm there.Â
For more info, call (813) 512-2558 and please tell Patrick and his crew that I sent you!Â
Twistee Treat Is Open In The Chap!
Even though thereâs been one on BBD in New Tampa for several years, folks in Wesley Chapel seem to be very excited about the recent opening of the new Twistee Treat on an outparcel of the Wesley Chapel Village Market on BBD, just south of S.R. 54.
Our video about Wesley Chapelâs new Twistee Treat (5258 Village Market) had a Facebook reach of nearly 13,000 people and was viewed more than 8,500 times!
If you go to check it out, please tell the folks at the new Twistee Treat that you read/heard about them from the Neighborhood News!
Of course, here in Wesley Chapel, we have not only Happy Cow and Menchieâs but also multiple gas stations serving âFroYo.â
âą On the other hand, the new Smallcakes is now open. Located between Ciccio Cali and our friends at the Palms Pharmacy (in Tampa Palms), it will carry a variety of delicious cupcakes, but also homemade ice cream. The Oldsmar location (3705 Tampa Rd.) reportedly has been very successful.Â
âą Sadly, while I originally believed that the new Rice nâ Beans was set to open in the former Codyâs Roadhouse space on WC Blvd. shortly after our last issue came out, it still looked to be at least a couple of more weeks away as I went to press with this issue, although a Google search landing page says it should be open before this issue reaches you. The Lutz Rice nâ Beans closed almost two months ago.
Congrats, WC Rotary & PEF!
My sincere congratulations go out to the Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel, which meets Wednesdays at noon at Omariâs Grill at Lexington Oaks Golf Club, which hosted a super-successful fourth annual Duck Fest at the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge on U.S. Hwy. 41 in Land OâLakes on March 10.
That Rotary Club is the one my wife (see page 1) Jannah Nager belongs to and although the event raised more than $5,000 to benefit the clubâs selected nonprofit charities â Big Brothers & Big Sisters of Tampa Bay and the Pasco Sheriffâs K-9 Assn. â the primary goal of event chair Jodie Sullivan and her outstanding committee was to make the Duck Fest an even more family-friendly event and thereâs no doubt they succeeded.
There were literally hundreds of families on hand for the event, where thousands of small rubber ducks were blasted by hoses operated by the Pasco County Fire Rescue Department, with the top 50 or so ducks to reach the finish line earning their âownersâ a great prize â including a top cash prize of $1,000 for the first-place duck!
All major sponsors of the Duck Fest were invited to decorate much larger-sized rubber ducks and several local businesses were awarded trophies for their decorations. Our favorite was the award-winning âGoddess Lagunaâ duck (decorated by NeighborhoodNewsOnline.netâs own Mollyana Ward and her cohort Kim Brierly at Lagoon Realty.
The Rotary Duck Fest also featured a super-cool Classic Car Show (photo, left) and an appearance and demonstration by Titan, one of PCSOâs amazing K-9 officers.
âą I also want to congratulate Jannah and everyone at the Pasco Education Foundation â the 501(c)(3) nonprofit that supports Pasco Countyâs schools â for hosting their most successful (ever) Foundation Ball at Heritage Springs Country Club in the Trinity area of New Port Richey, raising about $140,000 to pay for scholarships for graduating high school seniors and stipends for teachers in Pasco schools.
And remember, the WC Rotaryâs 2nd annual âHats & Horsesâ Derby Party is Saturday, May 4! â GN
You could still hear the sound of skates skimming across the ice and children making their way around the rinks, but if you listened very closely on March 24, you might have also heard the sound of delighted taste buds.
âMmmmm.â
Local food and beverage vendors invaded AdventHealth Center Ice (AHCI) for the third consecutive year, offering samples of some of their most popular dishes and drinks at the 2019 Taste of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel.
âI love Taste of New Tampa,â said New Tampaâs Debra Gilreath. âI love the venue, love the neighborhood, love the fact that itâs indoors. The variety of restaurants and vendors that are here is great and itâs easy to buy tickets online and itâs reasonable. Most tastes are two tickets or three tickets.â
Although the event has been held in the comfortable confines of AHCI for three years, the Taste has been around since 1995, serving tasty morsels while also serving as a fund raiser for local charities supported by the Rotary Club of New Tampa and college scholarships given out to graduating high school seniors by the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce (NTBC).
Held at various locations over its more-than-two-decade run, but since a four-year hiatus beginning in 2013 (following the merger between the New Tampa Chamber of Commerce and the Wesley Chapel Chamber), the event has found a convenient, weather-proof home at AHCI.
Roughly 2,000 people attended this yearâs event, which co-chair Karen Frashier said was stronger than ever and has become the Rotary Club of New Tampaâs biggest fund-raising event, although the club also puts on a successful Turkey Trot road race Thanksgiving morning every year.
âEvery year in June, the money raised from Taste of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel and the Turkey Trot is given away to the charities we support,â said Frashier, a former president of the Rotary Club of New Tampa. âIn 2018, we raised $46,000 (between the events) and donated it to our international foundation, End Polio Now, as well as 36 other local, nonprofit or school-related charities.â
Frashier also said that Rotary Feeds America, Feeding Tampa Bay, Meals on Wheels and the Fisher House residence at the James A. Haley VA Hospital are some of the other charities that will benefit from this yearâs event. A 20-person committee of the 72-member club organized this yearâs event that featured 38 restaurants and beverage purveyors and 34 non-restaurant sponsors.
The winner of the 2019 Taste of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Peopleâs Choice Award, which was determined by the weight of the Taste sample tickets collected by each restaurant, was first-time participant Bahama Breeze, followed by Noble Crust (up from third a year ago and a top-three finisher all three years at AHCI) and first-time participant the Ice Dreammm Shop.
According to Frashier, the top 10 restaurants, in alphabetical order, were:
Bahama Breeze
Chuyâs Fine Tex Mex
Ciccio Cali
Cinebistro at the Grove
Fat Rabbit Pub
Ice Dreammm Shop
Noble Crust
Nothing Bundt Cakes
Pomodoro Pizza
Vom Fass Wiregrass
The four finalists for the beverage division were Blue Chair Bay Rum, The Brass Tap, Time for Wine and Zephyrhills Brewing Co., which repeated its win as the favorite adult beverage provider this year..
Gilreath and her daughter Asha were enjoying some of the samples outside the rink, and had already decided on one of their favorites.
âNoble Crustâs chicken & waffles is my favorite thing so far,â said Asha. âNoble Crust is great because they make everything from scratch.â
Noble Crust events coordinator Brad Elia said his crew was hoping to improve on last yearâs third-place finish in the restaurant category. The Italian eatery is now the only restaurant to place in the top three all three years since the Taste returned in 2017, and hungry and eager patrons gobbled up their samples as quickly as Noble Crustâs employees could get them on the table.
âThe chicken & waffles is one of our signature dishes,â Elia said. âWhen we opened our St. Petersburg branch, it was one of the dishes we opened with.â
Noble Crust, located the Shops at Wiregrass mall, topped the dish with some micro greens from their sister company Fat Beet Farm.
Last yearâs winner, Tampa Palmsâ Ciccio Cali, was set up in the center aisle, not out of sight of Noble Crust. Ciccioâs brought the same three items that earned it top honors last year — a hot & crunchy tuna, a spicy Brazilian (blackened chicken) and a Thai chicken bowl, but did not crack this yearâs top three.
There were certainly some other unique culinary merchants at the event. The Main Ingredient, located off Collier Pkwy. in Lutz, isnât really a restaurant, but more of a cook-to-order specialty grocer that offered samples of their oils and hot sauces over noodles.
âWe sell most everything by the ounce,â owner Christina Sweet said. âPeople can come in with a recipe and get the exact amount they need instead of getting something and itâs sitting in their cabinet for who knows how long. Everything we sell is organic, non-GMO and gluten-free. We also have a line of specialty spices and tea leaves.â
Helping out at the Main Ingredient table was 11-year-old Sophia Contino, who knows a little about convincing people to try samples, as she has garnered a lot of media attention (including in these pages) for raising money for the Pasco Sheriffâs K-9 Unit.
Contino said she really liked The Main Ingredientâs noodles and hot sauce.
Cinebistro at the Grove doled out samples of soft tacos, meatballs and ceviche-style seafood dishes. The Hilton Garden Innâs chef Frank Skalitza gave out ahi tuna poke spoons and herb-cheese-and-dates Endive Bites.
Taste attendees Ashvin and Kitty Maharaj got a brief respite from their dutiesâ Ashvin as a Rotary volunteer and Kitty with the All County Alliance Property Management table â and used it to sample some of the fare.
âThis is a huge benefit for small businesses and itâs a great community event,â Ashvin said.
All County Alliance Property Management sponsored the cruise that was given away as one of the 50-50 raffle prizes.
Kitty said one of the best things about the event was that it introduced local residents to some places they may have previously not heard of, like Avaâs Low Country Cuisine, which provides private chef service, catering and classes and doled out samples of macaroni and cheese, cupcakes and rice bowls. âAvaâs doesnât even have a store front, and I hadnât even heard of Walkabout,â she said.
The Schoolfield family of Tampa Palms enjoyed offerings from all of the aforementioned providers.
Jake Schoolfield works at the CenterState bank in downtown Tampa, which was one of the eventâs sponsors. His favorite offering was Ciccioâs crunchy tuna.
âAn event like this brings awareness to local owner/operators,â Jake said. âYou drive past all these places how many times in a week? I hope that it translates into more business for them. Itâs also fun to see your neighbors out here.â
Dessert items were high on the list of favorites, too. Nothing Bundt Cakes, which was third in 2017 before it even had its current Wesley Chapel location in the Shops at Wiregrass, handed out samples of strawberry, lemon, chocolate and white chocolate raspberry bundt cakes. The strawberry cakes, however, were the most popular of the day, according to manager Crystal Cadet. Also serving amazing strawberry cake was Canterbury Hall, the new catering/banquet hall at Grace Episcopal Church in Tampa Palms.
Adult beverage purveyors were also once again on hand at this yearâs Taste, including 2018 beverage winner Zephyrhills Brewing Co., which took first place beverage honors again this year, second-place finisher The Brass Tap, and Time for Wine and Blue Chair Rum, which finished in a tie for third this year.
Other than playing music, some of Freedomâs marching band members worked on navigating a gigantic âOperationâ game brought in by AdventHealth Wesley Chapel, the eventâs primary sponsor, which also offered chair massages. And, sponsor Pinotâs Palette, which combines the love of wine and painting, gave the kids some fun art activities to participate in (but no wine!).
Ashley McKibbin of Tampa brought her friend, Amber Cherry, all the way from Jacksonville to enjoy the event.
âI love it, itâs a great event, fun, family-friendly,â said McKibbin.
