Oct. 02–When Jeff Vinik first came to Tampa to buy the Lightning hockey team five years ago, he stayed at the Marriott Waterside hotel. Now, within the span of 24 hours, Vinik has not only purchased the Marriott for $150 million, but also won approval from the City of Tampa to build another major hotel across the street.
The hotels, along with Vinik’s purchase of Channelside Bay Plaza, and his control of 24 contiguous acres in the area creates a singular opportunity to remake a whole new neighborhood, said Jac Sperling, Vinik’s top development executive.
“We are not just building a building. We are building an entire district,” Sperling said. “This is something the rest of the country will take notice of, and it will attract new people here.”
More of the overall development plan will come into focus in the coming months as Vinik’s team finishes and unveils a master plan for the district, but at least one facet is a near certainty: The 719-room Marriott Waterside will continue to be a “Marriott” brand, and there will be all kinds of tie-ins between the Amalie Arena and the Marriott.
“Maybe we don’t just sell tickets to see Tom Petty,” Sperling said. “Maybe we sell the hotel rooms for visitors, too.”
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A deal to buy the Marriott from its previous owner, HMC Hotel Development, was in the works for “many months,” Sperling said, but had become the talk of development circles in recent days, though executives with Vinik only added to the intrigue by declining to comment.
Vinik’s development company, Strategic Property Partners, closed on the deal just yesterday, according to Hillsborough County court records filed Thursday. Sperling and other members of Vinik’s development team made an appearance at the Marriott they had just purchased. Though Vinik was not there, he issued a statement, saying “SPP is excited to acquire this centerpiece downtown property, further advancing our plans for the development of America’s next great urban waterfront district, right here in Tampa.”
The Marriott deal announced today comes on the heels of news that the investment company backed by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Cascade Investments, is buying into Vinik’s plans for the overall Channel District as a financial partner. Likely that overall project will reorient streets to create a new neighborhood around the just renamed Amalie Arena where Vinik’s hockey team plays.
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Vinik has one key ally in his redevelopment drive in the form of Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, who cheered Vinik’s plans for the overall neighborhood.
“First and foremost, it makes it much easier and far more streamlined to craft a district in conjunction with the city that makes sense,” Buckhorn said. “You’re dealing with one person as opposed to multiple land owners. If you make the assumption that the city could create an overlay district, then you possibly have common signage, common lighting designs, common amenities. Having to deal with just Jeff makes this much easier for everyone.”
Just this summer, Vinik prevailed in a legal dispute to take control of the Channelside Bay Plaza complex, giving him control of a vast swath of downtown waterfront, stretching from the Marriott to the Florida Aquarium.
Buckhorn said he wouldn’t be surprised if the area gets a new name altogether, particularly to rid the city’s atmosphere of the “Channelside” name that became so tainted amid legal disputes and business flops.
Vinik’s control is also a big shot in the arm for downtown amid the drive to recruit the University of South Florida to move all or part of its medical school downtown. That would be a far larger project than just the “CAMLS” automated surgery training center that’s already near the Arena, Buckhorn said.
Nearly every aspect of the wider neighborhood may change with the redevelopment, including the street pattern, and become a new walkable district with hotels, office buildings, apartment towers and parks. Executives with Vinik may unveil more of their plans soon, as they say a master plan may be ready in the next 60 days.
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Besides the Marriott, Vinik already plans a new hotel on a vacant space at the corner of Florida Avenue and Old Water Street — directly across the street from the Marriott.
Zoning requests for the new hotel envision 175,000 square feet of new meeting and convention space. Vinik’s team now plans a nationwide “road show” to visit corporate CEOs and persuade them to relocate into the area.
The new hotel Vinik plans to build may have 400 rooms and top 25 stories. It likely will be a higher-end hotel than any of those in the area, as executives with Vinik’s team say they hope to “elevate” the options that vacation and convention travelers have to stay downtown.
Tampa City Council on Thursday gave approval for a complex re-zoning of the property to allow for the development.
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