Westshore Master Plan is Complete

After more than a year of hard work by our Master Plan Committee, chaired by Randy Coen of Coen & Company, we have completed the Westshore Master Plan.  Our consultant team from the USF School of Architecture and Community Design provided an exciting vision to improve the public spaces in Westshore.  Thank you to the many Westshore Alliance members, local business owners, neighborhood representatives and local agencies that participated in the process and provided valuable input.    We recently presented the Westshore Master Plan to the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners and the Tampa City Council and received enthusiastic support for the plan.  You can view more information about the Master Plan, including links to local media reports, at our website. 

Transportation News for Westshore

We are seeing a boom in construction activity on the roads leading to and through Westshore.  Our Transportation Committee, chaired by Ron Gregory with URS Corporation, is actively engaged in the planning process for all of these projects and advocates for the best possible transportation solutions for Westshore.   If you are interested in joining the committee, contact Chris Weber.  Following are highlights of a few projects underway.

• Veteran's Expressway Widening.  Construction has begun on a $386 million project to widen the Veterans Expressway (Toll 589)  to 8 lanes from Memorial Highway to VanDyke Road.  As part of the project, the section of highway between Memorial Highway and Van Dyke Road will be converted to all-electronic tolling.   The project also introduces the Express Lane concept to the region.   For more details, visit the "construction" page at www.floridasturnpike.com 
• Howard Frankland Bridge Replacement.  The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has future plans in motion to replace the aging northbound Howard Frankland Bridge.  They will be holding stakeholder forums on the project on May 7 in Pinellas County and on May 9 at 10 am at the Hillsborough Community College Dale Mabry Campus.  For details and to RSVP, visit http://hfbs.fdotd7studies.com/index.html.
• I-275 Reconstruction.  As you know, widening of I-275 from the Hillsborough River to just east of Westshore is under construction.   Changes to traffic routes and detours happen constantly -  To receive our weekly traffic alert email related to the reconstruction, click here to update your profile or subscribe (be sure to select Westshore Traffic News).   

AECOM Technology Corporation has signed a lease for 7,054 square feet at One MetroCenter.  The company is consolidating two existing offices to new offices at this 11-story building which is part of MetWest International, a mixed-use development owned by MetLife.

The Hampton Inn Tampa International Airport/Westshore, located at 4817 W. Laurel Street has sold for $15.75 million.  The new owner is Leeward Strategic Properties of Norwalk, Conn.

The Tampa City Council recently approved the Richman Group's rezoning request to build Grady Square, a 557 unit apartment community on Grady Street (on the site currently home to Without Walls Church).  Construction/site improvements are slated to begin by the end of the year. 

Modera Westshore Apartments, under construction at Spruce and Trask, has announced that the first units will be available for move-in this summer.  Pre-leasing will begin within the next few weeks.

A partnership of Framework Group, LLC and Northwood Ravin has broken ground on Varela Westshore, a new 350 unit apartment complex at the corner of Spruce & Lois.  First units will be available for move-in in 2014.