Off to the Races

by Janan Talafer • jvt916@tampabay.rr.com

EVEN IN 1991, when Frank Margarella, currently vice president of the New Tampa Community Council, came to the area, he found that "everything centered on South Tampa and downtown, and people thought of coming out here like going out to the wild, wild West."

But by 1995, according to the New Tampa Community Council Web site, the community's zip code - 33647 - was "ranked in the top ten in the U.S. for fastest-growing upscale communities." The majority of development has been residential, with commercial lagging behind, Margarella says, because the "area still doesn't have the saturation of long-established Tampa neighborhoods like Carrollwood or Dale Mabry." But that may be changing.

United American Realty is ready to begin "moving the dirt" for a planned 200,000-square-foot retail center just south of County Line Road, says Margarella, who is also president of the commercial division of First in Real Estate. Margarella reports that United American Realty is in negotiations with two major anchors, one of them a nationally recognized gourmet grocery. Discussions are also under way with smaller retailers. Class A office space is planned near the retail center.

Capital Realty Investors recently opened the Palm Lake office building in Tampa Palms, offering what Ben Wacksman, a principal with the company, calls "innovative workplace solutions." "This is a managed office space with a furnished office, telephone and high-speed Internet," says Gina Space, leasing manager. "Small businesses will have the option of having a confidential access to a small portion of the office file server, with information backed up daily and the ability to retrieve documents remotely from home."

As New Tampa comes of age, a major drawback is lack of adequate roadways. Ask anyone who has braved bumper-car rush hours on Bruce B. Downs. "We didn't build enough side roads in New Tampa - arteries to take people off Bruce B. Downs," says Margarella, who is also chairperson of the New Tampa Transportation Alliance. A three-mile, eastwest connector toll road that will take commuters off Bruce B. Downs and on to I-275 is now on the drawing board.

Brandon Boils

Commercial development in Brandon continues to be strong, and several new mixed-use projects will be kicking it up a notch further. Metro Area Properties has announced Gateway Crossing, a 40- acre retail-residential project at the Crosstown Expressway and Falkenburg Road. Some 400 townhomes and condominiums are planned, as well as highend retail and restaurants, says Miller Dowdy, the firm's principal.

"We envision a retail center similar to Hyde Park in South Tampa," he says. "It's a first for the Brandon area and we think it's time. Brandon has the economic clout to support this type of project." Metro Area Properties will develop the retail and expects to complete a sale of the residential piece to a southeast Florida firm soon. "This will be their first venture into the Tampa area," says Dowdy, "and it will be a signature project for them."

Also along Falkenburg, Outback Steakhouse Inc. (OSI), the restaurant consortium headquartered in Tampa, has 46 acres under contract with plans for a 360,000-square-foot commercial center and 160,000 square feet of office space. Outback hopes to close on the property by the end of the year, says Jamie Butler, OSI land development manager. The company will be "master planning" the entire project, according to Butler, but is looking for development partners for all but 20,000 square feet, which it plans to keep for three or four signature restaurants under the OSI umbrella such as Lee Roy Selmon's, Paul Lee's Chinese Kitchen and Cheeseburger in Paradise.

"This is a great location and it gives us a nice, unique environment," says Butler. OSI envisions a lifestyle mixed-use product that would give people the opportunity to live, work and shop all in one space, a concept that Butler calls an "urban-scape where young professionals would have everything right at their fingertips."

A traditional town center is also coming to fruition with Brandon Main Street, a 300-acre overlay district that will include retail, residential and offices, all within a pedestrian-friendly downtown neighborhood. The Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce will move there this fall into a new two-story, 18,000-square-foot facility. The new building will have leased space for tenants, says Tammy Bracewell, chairman and CEO of the chamber. The first tenant is Sage Campione Chiropractic.