HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Tampa City Council will once again consider a high-rise development on Bayshore Boulevard.
The previous hearing drew a packed house as the community pushed back on the idea. Now, the developer is back at the table with a revised plan.
The plan is to build a high rise on the property of Congregation Rodeph Sholom, just north of Bay to Bay Boulevard. The synagogue would sell part of its property to The Related Group for the project.
Last year council voted no after hearing pushback from community members. This time, the developer has a different plan.
Jake Cremer, a lawyer representing The Related Group, explained the key differences in this proposal.
“There are a lot of differences, so we’ve gone down from about 29 stories to 26,” Cremer said.
He explained the new proposal scaled back the size of the building to 42 units. The original plan had 50. He said they are also removing their waiver requests, so this proposal meets what is already allowed by code.
“The other big difference is, we're proposing an agreement with the city to contribute $150,000 to Fred Ballpark, which is about a block away,” Cremer said.
That money would go to park improvements. He said they also plan to fix up other aspects of the neighborhood, like resurfacing several streets and adding some lighting.
Some neighbors are still pushing back. Paula Perry is the vice president of the Tampa Garden Club. They are right next door to where the building would be built.
Perry said the building does not fit in with the neighborhood.
“This neighborhood of Bayshore Gardens is surrounded by townhomes and low-density housing, and it is just out of scale with the entire neighborhood,” she said.
Perry worries it would hurt business at the Garden Club since most of their revenue comes from the money they make while holding events or weddings. She said they will lose that if the building goes up.
“Can you imagine the shadows that would cast over, the noise, the views?" she said.
We reached out to Congregation Rodeph Shop for an interview but have not heard back. If council decides to move forward with this project, there will still need to be a second hearing.
