TAMPA, Fla. — Right now, construction is underway on what's expected to be the tallest residential building in Tampa.
'One Tampa' will go up at the corner of North Ashley Street and Twiggs Street, across the street from Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park and the Tampa Riverwalk.
The development team and city leaders were there on Thursday morning to break ground on the 510-foot tall, 42-story building.
"This was an underused parking lot and some underused buildings, so it's really going to fill in a gap in the city skyline," said Brian Van Slyke, Regional President of the development group Kolter Urban.
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor was in attendance, remarking that the project is just one of many new builds coming to Tampa.
"We have a number of projects that are on the launching pad and ready to go. So, there are going to be a lot more changes to the downtown skyline," Castor said.
Right now, the city of Tampa says it needs 26,000 affordable housing units. While the luxury condos at One Tampa, which start at $1 million, don't fit the "affordable" category, Mayor Castor says more housing at every price point will help the city meet its goals.
"We need housing at every step so that we can free up housing in the medium and affordable areas as well," Castor said.
'One Tampa' developers say building the 225 luxury units will provide 400 jobs locally, and its economic impact downtown will only grow after it's complete.
Van Slyke said, "Long term, it will provide dozens of direct jobs and then the residents will provide economic impact to the surrounding neighborhoods. We will provide a multi-million dollar annual tax base to the city."
Van Slyke estimates One Tampa will be complete by mid-2027.