Onetime Lingerie Bowl site to get $45M apartment complex

TAMPA -- Work is set to begin on another apartment complex near downtown Tampa, as Havana Square gets ready to break ground on North Rome Avenue.

Pollack Shores Real Estate Group says it closed on land at 400 N. Rome Ave. to build a 274-unit apartment complex and adjoining parking garage. The project will be on 2.9 acres just west of the University of Tampa, and four blocks north of Kennedy Boulevard.

Atlanta-based Pollack Shores says it will spend $45 million, or $164,200 per unit, to build the complex.

The land had been owned by Tampa developer Ken Morin, and received approval for 296 apartment units between five and eight stories and a 554-space parking structure, according to a listing. The land was listed last year for $5.9 million.

A Pollack Shores spokeswoman says the land sale closed July 15 for $4.5 million, but the deed had yet to be made available publicly. A warranty deed was filed June 19 between seller Hyde Park Realty Group LLC and buyers Ronald Hockman and George Peterson for $10. Hockman and Peterson are listed as managers of Hyde Park Realty, according to state corporate records.

The property shifted back and forth between the managers and the company earlier this year for $610,000, according to county property records. However, Hyde Park originally purchased the land from Morin's Logan Disposition Co. in July 2009 for $2.6 million.

Although vacant for years, the property did make national news in 2009 when it was set to host the Lingerie Bowl, an alternative to the Super Bowl halftime show that at the time traveled to cities that were hosting the NFL championship game. The event, which was played by women wearing revealing clothing, was cancelled after Tampa city officials revoked its permit, citing insurance and neighborhood reaction concerns.

The first units for Havana Square will be available by next summer, Pollack Shores says in a release, with final completion of the units expected in early 2016.

Pollack Shores bought Lexington Park at Westchase at 12201 Lexington Park Drive in Tampa for $64.5 million, or $160,000 per unit last month. That complex is located just off Linebaugh Avenue and Countryway Boulevard in Northwest Hillsborough County.

It also owns the 426-unit Solaris Key in Clearwater, as well as the 342-unit Gateway North in Largo.