TAMPA, Fla. — A $500 million development announced Tuesday in West Tampa is set to transform the face of the long-neglected area and bring affordable housing to a city desperately in need, but some fear the rapidly changing landscape will mean they’ll be left out.
The city plans to redevelop Rome Yard, an old city storage area, into a new, mixed-use community with hundreds of apartments alongside retail and recreation space.
“We need housing at all levels,” Leroy Moore, chief operating officer for the Tampa Housing Authority said. “We really do.”
Developers, the Tampa Housing Authority, and city leaders on Tuesday broke ground on “The Gallery at Rome Yards,” which is slated to bring 234 affordable and workforce apartment units in a market where rent has skyrocketed over the last several years.
“It’s just a renaissance for this neighborhood,” Mayor Jane Castor said.
The public-private partnership is one of several already underway in the West Tampa community. Seeds for redevelopment in this area had previously been planted under previous mayoral administrations. Former Mayor Bob Buckhorn previously spoke of his goal to renovate the area, which has prime real estate along the riverfront. It also struggled with poverty and crime.
Joe Robinson, engineer and community organizer, said he looks forward to the change.
“To have something positive, something that looks nice, something that looks good that they can afford that don't cost several hundred thousand dollars, or a thousand dollars to rent in,” he said.
Robinson, who has lived in West Tampa for decades has been actively involved in conversations about redeveloping the area.
“Something I’ve been working on for over 50 years,” he said.
West Tampa has long been home to a large part of the city's Black and Hispanic populations. But with all the development, some fear gentrification.
Close to 2,000 people from the now-demolished North Boulevard Homes have been moved to other parts of the area. The Tampa Housing Authority says they have first right of refusal to return to affordable housing as it’s rebuilt.
There’s other displacement happening as well. In February, 10 Investigates showed how plans for the Rome Yard development displaced a center serving families and children in need, despite a lease agreement in place.
"I honestly believe that it's about the investors. It's not about the community,” said Tina Young, CEO of Project LINK. “Our kids are being pushed aside. They are."
The Hillsborough County School District also closed Just Elementary School last year, displacing several hundred students. Some parents and community leaders questioned if plans for redevelopment in the area influenced the closure.
The district has since then announced plans to build two new schools in its place. However, city planning records from nearly a decade ago suggest new schools were always part of the redevelopment plan.
The Gallery at Rome Yards is set to open by 2026.