SPP hires contractors for Water Street Tampa

Strategic Property Partners has unveiled both the name of its planned $3 billion redevelopment in downtown Tampa and the firms that will build it.

The partnership between Bill Gates' Cascade Investments and Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik's 53-acre Water Street Tampa project is slated to contain thousands of new residences; roughly 3 million square feet of office, retail, restaurant and entertainment space; a 500-room, four-star hotel that may carry the JW Marriott flag; and a five-star, 157-room boutique lodging property at the completion of its first phase, in 2020.

Additionally, SPP is planning a $40 million renovation to the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel & Marina, which Vinik purchased in September 2014 for $150 million.

The property also will be home to the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute, one of nearly two dozen buildings planned in all by 2027.

The firm also unveiled a list of nine general contractors that have been tapped to date to construct the district, which also will contain acres of open space and be among the most environmentally conscious developments in Florida in recent history.

The list includes some of the top construction companies in the region, such as Kimmins Contracting Corp.; Creative Contractors Inc.; Skanska USA; Kolter Group affiliate Kast Construction Co.; Suffolk Construction Co.; Coastal Construction Group; Holder Construction; Gilbane Inc.; and Moss Construction Management.

SPP also plans to hire a commercial real estate brokerage firm to market its planned office space, where Vinik says he'd like to attract either a corporate or regional headquarters.

Infrastructure work on the site near Amalie Arena is ongoing, and SPP hopes to begin vertical development by the end of this year.