Renderings have been released this week for Gensler and KPF next phase at Water Street Tampa. The newest phase at the US$3 billion development involves the construction of 3 new buildings. A new condominium tower, designed by Gensler, a build-to-suit office complex and a mixed-use entertainment centre are a part of the pan. Gensler has also announced that the new condominium tower will be the tallest tower in Water Street Tampa. All this will be located at the 56-acre site that has already seen ten new buildings built as of October last year.
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Details on the Residential and Office Towers
Both the residential tower and office building have been shown as an extension of Water Street that’s currently under construction north of the 900 and 1000 Blocks of East Cumberland Avenue. The mixed-use entertainment destination, however, is located between South Morgan Street and South Jefferson Street. It will have a new select service hotel, event parking garage, and variety of entertainment-oriented usages. This area of Tampa already has residential towers such as Asher, Cora and Heron. Gensler will add to this collection with their new residential tower.
The office building will be “build to suit.” This means it will be designed to accommodate whichever companies sign on to lease the space. Taube said he hopes this will appeal to large corporations that are considering a move to the Tampa Bay area. Additionally, the offices will feature retail stores on the ground floor. The plans also include new green space along Water Street that could be used for open-air markets, outdoor concerts and other activities. What’s more, according to the renderings, huge consideration has been placed into parking.
“We wore pretty rose-colored glasses on parking the first time around. Tampa has structural issues related to transportation that are bigger than us, so we know we need more parking,” Brad Cooke, executive vice president at Strategic Property Partners said.
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Representatives do not have a projected end date for construction but stated that in the past it’s taken around three years for buildings to get off the ground. By spring 2025, the road and utility infrastructure work for the Water Street extension, which has already begun, is expected to be complete. This extension will allow for greater vehicular and pedestrian connectivity between downtown Tampa and Ybor City to the north.
The Project Team
The project team includes Strategic Property Partners who are the developers. Additionally, Gensler and KPF are the project architects. “From the inception of Water Street Tampa, we aspired to create a superior corporate relocation opportunity. We are successfully delivering on our vision of Water Street Tampa and believe its unique neighbourhood energy, vibrancy, and amenities will become an unparalleled location attracting best in class companies and talent to the West Coast of Florida,” said Josh Traube, SPP CEO.
“We are also well-positioned to partner with local and state leadership to capitalize on the immense draw of national businesses to Florida and we plan to vigorously pursue corporate relocations to this site,” he added.
More on The Water Street Tampa Project
The Water Street project begun in 2017, when construction broke ground on the first phase of the project located in Downtown Tampa. Strategic Property Partners came about as a result of a joint venture between Cascade Investment and Tampa Bay Lightning. The former is owned by Bill Gates and the latter by Jeffrey Vinik. In April 2021, the first mixed-use residential building at the property was opened, named Heron Residences. It was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox with the inspiration being a coral reef. Later on, The Cora opened, a second mixed-use residential tower. The 23-story project was designed by COOKFOX. In 2022 Morris Adjmi Architects’ ‘The Asher’ opened. This added 490 residences to the neighbourhood.
In addition to residential towers, Water Street project features various hotels. These include the Tampa EDITION hotel and residence, Tampa Marriott and Tampa JW Marriott. The former hotel was designed by Morris Adjmi. It features 172 rooms and 38 residences. Interestingly, the JW Marriot marked the company’s 100th hotel. It was completed and opened in 2020. Water Street Tampa is the first neighbourhood in the world to be certified by the International WELL Building Institute. This award noted the development’s focus on advancing healthy lifestyles. By the time all phases of construction are completed, there will be 3500 new residences total.
