Residents Invited To Learn More About Uptown Revival Plans

TAMPA, FL -- Residents can learn more about the ambitious redevelopment plans for the University Area during a forum titled "Tampa !p State of Uptown 2019" on Thursday, March 28.

The event starts at 5 p.m. with cocktails and appetizers at Studio Movie Grill at University Mall, 12332 University Mall Court. Speakers start at 6:15 p.m.

The area, re-branded as "Uptown" by the Tampa Innovation Partnership, comprises 25,000 acres in the northern part of Tampa, bound by Busch Boulevard on the south, Bearss Avenue on the north, and interstates 75 and 275 on the east and west. It includes parts of Tampa, Temple Terrace and unincorporated Hillsborough County.

Once given the derogatory moniker, Suitcase City, the racially mixed area is undergoing a revival following a period of urban decay in the 1970s and '80s.

After being awarded a $3.8 million federal grant to expand tech training for young adults, it is one of a few nationally designated TechHire communities, poised to be transformed into one of the region’s technology hubs and start-up incubators.

Additionally, the area is one of four in Hillsborough County eligible for redevelopment incentives designed to encourage office and industrial redevelopment for infill and to redevelop obsolete structures.

The U.S. Department of Treasury has designated several census tracts within Uptown as Opportunity Zones. These areas provide an incentive for investment and development through tax deferment and other benefits. (Read more about this program and see which areas are included here.)

The home of the University of South Florida, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Institute and Research Center, Busch Gardens, the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital, AdventHealth Tampa and Anheuser Busch, the area already employs 74,000 jobs at 4,100 companies and attracts four million tourists annually.

Among the speakers at tonight's forum are Chris Bowen, who is heading up the University Mall/Uptown redevelopment project; state Rep. James Grant, Hillsborough County Commissioners Les Miller and Kimberly Overman; Ming Goa, intermodal systems development manager for the Department of Transportation District 7; and Sam Schwartz, author of No One at the Wheel, Driverless Cars and the Road of the Future.

Those interested in learning more about plans for the area can register for tonight's forum by clicking here.

See related story:

Transformation Of University Mall Into Urban Village To Begin