TAMPA — After nearly two years of trying, City Hall appears to have a buyer with a big plan for a high-profile corner in Ybor City.
Source: home.tampabay.com
Ybor City is quietly undergoing a significant amount of development which should prove great for the district. A partnership between home builder Ariel Quintela and Darryl Shaw, the CEO of BluePearl Veterinary, a Tampa-based company with emergency animal hospitals and specialty veterinary clinics in 17 states are planning a $19.6 million project with 100 apartments, 8,000 square feet of retail space and an underground parking garage with about 100 spaces.
But that’s not all they plan. At five different locations throughout Ybor City, including the city’s, they are pursuing projects that encompass more than 200 apartments, some in new construction, but many in historic buildings — the old Oliva Cigar Factory, the Don Vicente de Ybor Historic Inn, the former Blues Ship Cafe — they plan to restore. They’ve already spent more than $5.7 million buying those properties.
Developing all five projects could add up to an investment of about $34 million in Ybor City.
Ybor City has such great bones and new rental housing, hotels and retail could be the perfect mix to turnaround this diamond in the rough.