50-acre Gasworx project outside downtown Tampa starts to take shape

Nearly two years after initial construction began on the Gasworx project in Tampa, the massive development is beginning to take shape with the first residential building — La Union, with about 300 units — nearing completion.

While it is only one of the hundreds — if not thousands — of moving pieces that will go into the remaking of the 50-acre property between Ybor City and downtown Tampa, the residences mark an important milestone for those who have worked on the project.

The developers — Darryl Shaw and Kettler — last week provided an update and shared plans on the first phase of the Gasworx project, which is currently underway.

A total cost for the project nor a timeline has not been announced.

Gasworx is mostly seen as an Ybor City project but when it is complete it will include several districts — Encore, the Channel District and downtown — and connect Tampa's historic soul with its commercial heart. 

At the center of the project, according to the update, will be a redeveloped warehouse “that will be transformed into a marketplace with open air seating and serve as the hub of the new district.”

Like Water Street Tampa, Gasworx is expected to reshape a section of the city just off of downtown and bring vibrancy to long stretches of empty or underserved spaces.

The project is the brainchild of Shaw. The former CEO of BluePearl Veterinary Partners is a longtime real estate investor whose focus has largely been on Ybor City. Among the projects he’s been involved with are the Hotel Haya, the Oliva Cigar Factory and Buchman Building.

And there could be one more piece coming to the area — though it doesn’t appear in any of the official information shared last week.

That piece is a new stadium for the Tampa Bay Sun FC, the newly formed professional women’s soccer team. Shaw is a co-owner of the team. His hope is for the Sun to eventually build a permanent home in Ybor City.

The team currently plays at a renovated stadium on the campus of Blake High School in Tampa. 

“With everything that we're doing in Ybor City, I really want the stadium to be in Ybor,” he said in a previous interview. “It's an opportunity to create placemaking environment and a good family friendly activity.”

Here are is how the first phase of Gasworx will look like.