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We're Hiring! Digital Marketing Coordinator and Administrative Assistant
Tampa Downtown Partnership is always looking for champions of Tampa's Downtown. Interested in joining our team? We are currently seeking qualified candidates for the following position(s):
Digital Marketing Coordinator
Happy Holidays! Tampa Downtown Partnership Office Holiday Hours
The Tampa Downtown Partnership staff will be working remotely for the week of the 23rd and the offices will be closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Please contact us via email if you need assistance during this time. Tampa's Downtown Guides and Clean Team are observing amended hours on December 24th (8am-5pm) and are off on December 25th. Have a safe, happy holiday!
New Yarrgh's Eve: Tampa announces pirate-themed New Year's celebration
If you're looking for New Year's Eve plans, the city of Tampa announced Wednesday it's throwing a party for the first time with Gasparilla flair."(It's our) New Yarrgh's Eve, which is our pirate-themed booty drop. It's an interactive experience here at Curtis Hixon Park where we will be dropping — via digital mapping on the Sykes Tower — a pirate booty," said Ashly Anderson, the director of marketing and design at the Tampa Downtown Partnership.Before the treasure chest drop, Anderson said 3D mapping technology will project a live social media feed until the countdown. It's a fresh take on Tampa's New Year celebrations."When you try to bring people in town and show them stuff to do, it's always nice to have something different to do, something nice to show and just enjoy the time," said Alberto Rodriguez of Tampa.
It's the latest in a festive lineup. The Winter Village will still be open, and you could even walk to check out celebrations planned at Sparkman Wharf and Armature Works.
Locals said they like the options for their families in town for the holidays.
"I like that idea. It's something different to do," added Rodriguez. "I would totally bring them out and see if they like it."
The Tampa New Year's Eve celebration is free to attend and family-friendly. It starts at 9 p.m. and runs until 12:30 a.m.
"New Yarrgh's Eve: Tampa announces pirate-themed New Year's celebration" – Fox 13
2020 Downtown Development Forum
Registration and sponsorship/marketing opportunities are now open for the 2020 Downtown Development Forum! The Downtown Development Forum is a half day conference discussing topics and efforts of the downtown community's development efforts. Hear from expert panelists, speakers and keynote address. Early Bird Pricing OPEN until February 5th at Midnight! Early Bird Partnership Members $65 (Increase after 2/5 is $75) Early Bird SSD Stakeholders & Non Members $80 (Increase after 2/5 is $95)
FRIDAY >> APRIL 3, 2020
Westin Tampa Waterside
725 S. Harbour Island Waterside Blvd.
8:30am – 11:30
Stay tuned for the announcement of our expert speakers and keynote address!
From barren to buzzworthy: Tampa and St. Pete's downtown makeovers
Editor's note: This story is part of "A Decade Defined By," a series that examines how Tampa Bay has changed in the past decade. We will publish one story a day until Dec. 31. Read the whole package here.
Ten years ago, still in the grip of the Great Recession, no one would have pegged downtown Tampa or St. Petersburg as buzzworthy.
Tampa's skyscrapers were mostly in place, built largely in the 1980s and early 1990s. But it wasn't until the latest leg of the waterside Riverwalk opened in 2015 that the area took off. The 2.4 mile path realigned Tampa's center toward the Hillsborough River and green spaces like Curtis Hixon Park, WaterWorks Park and Richard Gonzmart's restaurant, Ulele.
In 2018, the opening of the revamped 25-acre Julian B. Lane Riverfront Park across the river to the west provided a capstone to that vision.
Across the bay, St. Petersburg's once-moribund downtown underwent a stunning transformation led by new luxury residential towers along the city's waterfront including Ovation and Signature Place, which opened in 2009. Within a decade, they were joined by Bliss and St. Petersburg One, a spruced-up Bayfront Towers and a raft of luxury apartment buildings as high-priced living rolled west from the water all the way to the doorstep of Tropicana Field.
The demographics of both downtowns radically transformed, bringing thousands of new residents. Each developed a different vibe: St. Pete celebrates it local, artsy feel while Tampa strives for the big-city atmosphere.
New people meant places to eat, drink and shop. St. Pete's Central Avenue has become a national success story of local retail stretching nearly all the way to 34th Street. Tampa's downtown has been bolstered by Sparkman Wharf and Armature Works, entertainment and event spaces anchored by food halls, bookending the Riverwalk.
The expanded footprints promise to grow even larger with dozens of residential projects announced in both urban cores, highlighted by Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik's $3 billion Water Street, a massive mixed-use development at downtown's southern edge.
And a symbolic icon of the bay area's urban emergence opens next year when St. Pete unveils its new Pier, the centerpiece of a 26-acre Pier District that will re-imagine the city's waterfront drawing card.
Five key turning points for downtowns, 2010-2019
1. Tampa's Riverwalk
When it opened in 2015, former mayor Bob Buckhorn predicted it would reorient downtown to the water. It largely has.
2. St. Pete's downtown residential explosion
The high-rises along the waterfront started more than a decade ago, but the intensity of development has only picked up its pace as the city remakes itself block by block, especially heading west toward Tropicana Field.
3. Tampa's urban green spaces — Curtis Hixon, Waterworks and Julian B. Lane parks
Another key piece in Tampa's resurgence: the creation of riverside parks that draw people as a destination.
4. Tampa's Water Street development
It's still a few years off from completion, but Water Street could be the final link connecting Channelside to the rest of downtown and bringing thousands of jobs and residents to what used to be mostly faded warehouses and parking lots.
5. St. Pete Pier
The fate of the iconic structure has been a political football since at least 2013. After many subsequent battles and plenty of griping, the new Pier looks nearly ready. Will it be the regional destination that Mayor Rick Kriseman's administration hopes for?
"From barren to buzzworthy: Tampa and St. Pete's downtown makeovers" – Tampa Bay Times (subscription required)
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The Tampa Downtown Partnership serves as the steward of Downtown Tampa, cultivating public and private partnerships, and encouraging Downtown's physical and economic development. As a proactive leadership organization, the Tampa Downtown Partnership acts as an advocate for the Downtown community.