Tampa, Florida:
Transforming and revitalizing the Hillsborough riverfront northwest of the Central Business District

The City of Tampa, in coordination with the Tampa Housing Authority, seeks to transform & revitalize an aged and underutilized riverfront development area, which is located to the immediate northwest of the Central Business District along the western boundary of the Hillsborough River. The area contains approximately 120 acres with more than 7,200 linear feet of river frontage. More than 80 percent of the redevelopment area is owned by various public agencies.

Specific project goals to be addressed in this effort include:

Housing Redevelopment:

• Redevelopment of the North Boulevard Homes public housing community into a mixed-income/ mixed-use sustainable urban village, providing for the relocation of residents with rights to return post redevelopment, and provision of program services to promote greater self-sufficiency among resident population. The North Boulevard Homes site currently houses 783 multi-family units and 150 senior units over 43+ acres;
• Coordination with three large, privately owned multi-family housing communities to develop a strategy for renovation, repositioning, and/or future redevelopment;
• Overall improvement of visual impact on gateways to the City Center.

Engaging the riverfront by:

• Introducing high-quality housing; public spaces; and direct public access to the Hillsborough River;
• The possible relocation of the existing riverfront athletics facilities to non-riverfront location(s) or redesigned Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park, where possible.

Enhancing the Riverfront Park:

• Redesigning and reprograming Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park (a city facility) into a safe, attractive, and active community-oriented urban park;
• Possible site for relocated/co-located athletics facilities.

Improving Connectivity to the Central Business District:

• Identifying and designing safe and well-marked connections to the Central Business District;
• Creating new and enhancing existing connections for pedestrians, bicycles, and vehicles;
• Exploring options for new bus circulator and water taxi services.

In developing a plan and strategies for implementation, many challenges have been identified, including:

• Governmental cooperation: More than 80 percent of the study area is held by five separate and distinct governmental agencies;
• Public access to and use of the riverfront: Currently there is limited public access to and poor utilization of the riverfront along the Hillsborough River;
• Public schools: Better planned and more integrated urban public schools with new plans for residential housing, parks, and recreation facilities.
• Multi-family housing: This existing public and low-income, multi-family housing stock is located on a major gateway to the City Center and is outdated in need of redevelopment.

View the study visit panel’s presentation

See the presentation in streaming video