Our September chapter meeting featured a virtual update from Strategic Property Partners on their groundbreaking development,
Water Street Tampa. One of the largest real estate developments in the United States, Water Street Tampa is a multi-phased, mixed-use development transforming 56 contiguous acres on Tampa’s waterfront. Encompassing over nine million square feet of new commercial, residential, hospitality, entertainment, cultural, retail and educational spaces, the development is creating an entirely new neighborhood in Tampa that is designed to connect the city’s central business district to its surrounding communities and long-underutilized waterfront. The neighborhood is revolutionizing Tampa by offering a dynamic, walkable lifestyle that has never before been available in the area.
A $3.5 billion, privately-funded project, Water Street Tampa is being developed by Strategic Property Partners, LLC (“SPP”), a partnership between Cascade Investment LLC and businessman Jeff Vinik, owner of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning. SPP has brought together the world’s best talent in architecture, design, landscape architecture, urban planning, placemaking and community design to realize the vision for Water Street Tampa.
The vision for Water Street Tampa is to create a balanced urban experience. Water Street Tampa is built on the idea that the city of the future can be designed in a more comprehensive, cohesive and people-centric way. It brings together all the essential elements of a thriving community in one beautifully interconnected space with the human experience at its center. All pieces of the neighborhood—from homes to offices to retail to Sparkman wharf, the waterfront mixed-use destination—blend together seamlessly, and all are connected by pedestrian-friendly walkways and tech-enabled transit. Office space includes two Class-A towers—the first new office towers in downtown Tampa in 25 years—and loft-style office space at Sparkman Wharf. The neighborhood is also home to a diverse array of residences, including Heron, a rental development that launched this week, and The Residences at The Tampa EDITION, the first for-sale residences in Water Street Tampa and the first branded residences ever available in Tampa.
Built around wellness, connectivity, walkability and sustainability, Water Street Tampa is the first neighborhood in the world to achieve the WELL Design & Operations (“D&O”) designation under the
WELL Community Standard. Pioneered by the International WELL Building Institute, the WELL Community Standard is an evidence-based approach to urban design that recognizes neighborhoods that promote well-being through the built environment. Receiving this designation means that Water Street Tampa uses design strategies to improve the lives of the neighborhood’s residents, employees and visitors through factors including air, light, water, sound, fitness, community and more. The neighborhood’s forward-looking design as a dynamic, evolving community ensures that it will continue setting new standards and global precedents for design well into the future.