NEW ORLEANS—HRI Properties has been selected as the winning bidder to acquire a city-owned block in the heart of downtown Tampa on the corner of East Kennedy Blvd. and North Florida Ave. HRI’s plans for the currently vacant space include a $120-million, 21-story, mixed-used tower with a 223-room Hyatt Centric Hotel, 225 luxury apartments, 7,000 sq. ft. of retail space and a 408-car garage.
HRI plans to start building the project by the third quarter of 2017. Along with Hyatt, HRI’s project team includes Baker Barrios Architects and general contractor DPR Construction.
“Tampa is a city that we’ve been looking to enter for some time now and we could not be more excited to begin our first of hopefully many projects here and within the state of Florida. We understand Tampa’s need for a ‘Livable City’ that promotes economic opportunity and encourages the use of pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use urban developments. These are the types of projects HRI excels at as our unique concept encourages social interaction, greater community participation and a sense of identity for both residents and guests,” said HRI President and CEO Tom Leonhard.
“The city received very attractive proposals from three very qualified teams and after careful analysis, HRI’s proposal offered exactly what the City of Tampa was looking for,” said Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn. “HRI offered not only a vision that would add to Tampa’s burgeoning downtown but also offered an attractive purchase price, density and innovative design… A livable, walkable and pedestrian-oriented downtown has been the goal of the Invision Plan (a master plan aimed to transform Tampa’s city center by creating an urban environment that focuses on the Hillsborough River as its core landmark) and a focus of our work of the last six years.”
The proposed 223-room Hyatt hotel will be located on floors six to 11 of the tower and will include 9,600 sq. ft. of meeting space, a 22,000-sq.-ft. rooftop cabana, fitness center and poolside bar. Once completed, HRI Lodging will manage the Hyatt Centric hotel.
Visitors to downtown Tampa will be able to access the parking garage as well as the hospitality areas of the development. Both long-term residential guests and hotel guests will be able to use the rooftop pool, order room service or dry cleaning, and charge food and beverages to their rooms or rental accounts.