May 13, 2013

Monday Morning Memo is your weekly update on downtown Tampa development, transportation updates, news and events.
Click on the sections below or scroll down to read the complete issue.

In this Issue...

The Partnership Presents

Partnership Member Mixer Sail Pavilion on the Riverwalk, Tampa Convention Center Wednesday, May 22, 5pm to 7:30pm TDP Members are invited to this after-hours event to mix, mingle, exchange ideas, extend your network, and build relationships at one of the most picturesque settings in Tampa.  Members are welcome to invite guests.  Hors d’oeuvres and a drink are on us!  Register at Downtown Partnership Member Mixer.  Not a member, but would like to learn more about membership benefits such as this upcoming event?  Contact Kimberly Finn Weaver at 813-221-3686 or kweaver@tampasdowntown.com.

Partnership Annual Meeting
Save the date for the Tampa Downtown Partnership’s 27th Annual Meeting & Luncheon to be held on Thursday, June 13, 11:30am to 1:30pm at the Tampa Convention Center.  Watch for registration which will be available soon.  

Downtown Sunday Market
Only two weeks left for the Downtown Sunday Market season.  The market runs October through May, and is held from 10am to 3pm at 600-700 Franklin Street.  Buy fresh, buy local.  Support your local vendors while enjoying not only the flavor of the unique products offered, but also the market's community friendly, family friendly and pet friendly environment, with some of the best local live entertainment offered in Tampa Bay each week.  See you Sunday!  For more information, visit Downtown Market. 

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Your Downtown Calendar

Preparedness Fair
Wednesday, May 15, 8am to 2pm
TECO Plaza Atrium
A variety of vendors will provide education and information for you, your family, and business on safety, health and wellness and how to best prepare for emergencies at this year’s Safety, Health & Emergency Preparedness Fair. This event is open to the public, and will include live demonstrations by the Tampa Police Department’s K-9, horse mounted, motorcycle and marine-diver units beginning approximately at 8:30am and throughout the day.  Mobile Mammogram Unit on site for screenings.  Reservations required.  Call 877-888-4845. 

Row for Riders Fundraiser
Wednesday, May 15, beginning 11am to Thursday, May 16, 1:12pm
In Front of The Element Building
Matt Casey and his sister Shannon will be adjacent to the new Paddywagon Irish Pub at The Element Condo Building, rowing on a row machine throughout the day and night to raise money for Quantum Leap Farms.  Their goal is to raise $5,000 for this charity. 
 
Matt and Shannon were on the rowing team at Berkeley Prep, and Matt was the Captain of the Varsity Heavyweight Rowing Team at USF.  They will attempt to set the World Record for continuous rowing – 26.2 hours.  Quantum Leap Farm assists persons who are challenged and disabled, reaching out to kids with pediatric cancer, veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury and PTSD, adults with multiple sclerosis and teenagers with autism.  This sibling duo’s goal is to reach $5,000 for Quantum Leap’s scholarship fund.  For more information, contact Matt at 813-846-8640 mcasey1@mail.usf.edu.  To make a donation, visit www.quantumleapfarm.org or call 813-920-9250. 

Curtis Hixon Park Highlights
Burger Showdown - Friday, May 17, 6pm to 9:30pm
A delicious fundraiser for Tampa Riverwalk.  Who has the best burger in town?  You be the judge (or at least one of the many in attendance).  For more information, visit Burger Showdown. 

Tampa Bay Margarita Festival - Saturday, May 25, 2pm to 10pm
Margaritas, music, and beach volleyball.  Fireworks at 9:4pm. 
For more information, visit Tampa Margarita Fest. 

8th Annual Pride & Passion Saturday, May 18 Tampa Museum of Art THE official kick off to the Bay Area's June Gay Pride Month offering surprise live entertainment, heavy hors d’oeuvres, dessert and coffee lounge, signature cocktails, craft  brews, and imported wines.  Don't miss this exciting evening at the spectacular setting of Tampa Museum of Art.  For more information, visit  Pride & Passion.

Upcoming Live Entertainment
Disney on Ice – Thursday, May 16 to Sunday, May 19 at Tampa Bay Times Forum
Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men – Through May 19 at Stageworks Theatre
Green Day’s American Idiot – Friday, May 17 at 8pm at Straz Center for Performing Arts
Seats for Soldiers – Saturday, May 25 at Tampa Bay Times Forum
A benefit for local military heroes during the Tampa Bay Storm vs. Soul game
On the Big Screen - Lore – through Thursday, May 16 at Tampa Theatre. 

Cultural Attraction Highlights
The Language of Jewelry - Through October 8 at Henry B. Plant Museum
'Craftology' – Saturday, May 18, benefitting the Glazer Children’s Museum
The Circus is coming to Town – May 15, 22 & 29 at Tampa Bay History Center
Circus: The Photographs of Fredrick Glasier are on exhibit May 25 to August 4
Two exhibits openings last weekend - Through September 15 at Tampa Museum of Art
Faded Elegance: Photographs of Havana, Michael Eastman
Miradas: Ancient Roots in Modern & Contemporary Mexican Art. 
Two important exhibits now showing – Through June 16 at Florida Museum of Photographic Art
Tampa Collectors Show and Vivian Maier: Out of the Shadows and Tampa Collectors Show

And there is so much more.  To keep up to date with exhibits, performances and other events, subscribe to Downtown After Hours, a Tampa Downtown Partnership eNewsletter brought to you every Thursday Afternoon. 

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Doing Business in Downtown

Tampa Bay & Co. News
Downtown is all about the people who work, live and play here.  And two of those people you see each day representing downtown venues were recognized last week at Tampa Bay and Company’s National Tourism Week celebration as Bern Laxer Award of Excellence recipients.  Congratulations to these two outstanding professionals:

Patt Vida, who serves a vital role in the operations of the Tampa Theatre as the box office attendant and “cheerful receptionist.” Patt has been with the Tampa Theatre for six years, and greets every guest with a smile and positive attitude, leaving a lasting impression. She is the theater’s “Downtown Ambassador,” directing visitors to local restaurants and attractions.  Patrick “PZ” Zambito exhibits very high standards of personalized customer service as Banquet Captain at The Florida Aquarium. Patrick focuses on the needs of every guest, always going above and beyond his direct responsibilities. Thom Stork, President and C E O at the Aquarium, summed it up, “Patrick’s attention to detail and ability to make things special is just his status quo.” And while we are talking about Tampa Bay & Company, and the importance of people, Tampa Bay & Company welcomed its new president and CEO last week, Santiago Corrada.  Santiago has most recently served as the City of Tampa Chief of Staff for Mayor Bob Buckhorn.  After conducting a national search, TB & Co. selected Corrada based on his local experience, management skills, industry knowledge, collaboration expertise, overall leadership ability and his passion for Tampa Bay.  Tampa Downtown Partnership looks forward to continuing working with Santiago in his new role at TB & Co.

New Pub Opening
Paddywagon Irish Pub opened at their ground floor space at The Element at Cass and Tampa Street last week. Paddywagon is part of the Linksters family of bars headquartered in Sarasota.  In addition to a plethora of brand beers, the pub is filled with TVs, a pool table and video games.  Customers are invited to have their own food delivered (no food is served at the pub).  Welcome and congratulations to Richard Kunzel and Tom Elliott for their successful opening. 
To learn more about this new business, visit Paddywagon Tampa. 

FirstWaVE Grant
FirstWaVE Accelerator Applications are now open for early stage start-up businesses.   The deadline to apply is May 31.   For more information about this program, attend FirstWaVE Accelerator InfoSession today at 12noon.  It is BYOL “Bring Your Own Lunch.”  For more information, visit their Facebook page at FirstWaVE Info Session.

Ziggurat Lights Schedule
The SunTrust Building ziggurat lights up Downtown Tampa this week with blue lights accented with a black band from May 13 to 18 in honor of National Police Week, recognizing those who valiantly serve our communities every day, and to recognize those who lost their lives in the line of duty.  For more information, visit Police Week. 



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Development & Transportation

Open-Mic Night about YOUR City
Tuesday, May 14, 5:30pm to 7pm
SONO Café at Tampa Museum of Art
Join The Urban Charrette and CNU Tampa Bay's for their second Urbanism on Tap.  Expect a spirited conversation revolving around enhancing Tampa’s vision, by creating a strong economy, building healthy neighborhoods, embracing a more holistic transportation system, and making the city more livable through sustainable urban design.  The focus will be about what other cities are doing to become more vibrant.

Senior Housing Development
An 80-unit residential rental development for seniors called Madison Heights is planned for a land parcel across from HART’s Marion Transit Center in Downtown Tampa.  The developer, American Realty Development hopes to break ground next month.  Read more about this project in the Tampa Tribune news article, senior-housing-project-planned-near-downtown-tampa. 

Channelside Meeting Recap
Prospective developers for the Channelside Bay Plaza property met with a filled-to-capacity room of people at the Florida Aquarium last week.  Santosh Govindaraju and Punit Shah discussed their plans for a four-story hotel and office complex to be added to the mix of retail and entertainment to create a 24/7 environment for this space.  To learn more about the meeting and the project, read the Tampa Bay Times news article, Pitch from Channelside's prospective owners impress public.... 

City Council Considering Development
Intown/Framework Group is hoping to build a 36-story, 360 residential unit apartment complex with some ground floor retail space.  The proposed location is to the south of the Straz Center.  The developers went before City of Tampa Council last week for rezoning.  There were however some citizen and stakeholder concerns that prompted the Council to postpone further review until June.  To read more about this project, read the Tampa Tribune article, Critics delay downtown Tampa tower plans. 

Talk of High-Speed Ferries
Former Hillsborough County Commissioner and transit advocate, Ed Turanchik on behalf of his client, HMS Global Maritime has been in discussions with multiple community leaders to gain support for a ferry system between Downtown Tampa, Downtown St. Petersburg and South County.  To read more about this potential project, read the Tampa Bay Times news article, Ed Turanchik promoting high-speed ferries as transit for Tampa Bay. 

HART News
Hillsborough Area Regional Transit reports more record breaking ridership.  April 2013 set an all-time monthly best with 1.3 million rides, a 6% increase compared to April 2012.  And as ridership grows, HART is adding a new service called MetroRapid North-South, enhanced bus service along the Nebraska corridor between downtown and the Hidden River office complex on Fletcher, to launch on Monday, June 10.  Save the date for their ribbon cutting ceremony which will begin at 9am at Hidden River Corporate Park, 8790 Hidden River Parkway.   For more information on this news and the Summer Blast Pass for youth, visit Go HART. 


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Member Corner

Rampello School is Cool!
Sam Rampello Downtown Partnership School has been recently named “COOL School” by Fox13 News.  News crews and cameras were on hand to capture not only the atmosphere of the school, but also performances by the Rampello bands, which was aired on May 3.  All three bands, Rampello Wind Ensemble, Orchestra & Advanced Jazz Bands have been invited to play at Busch Gardens on May 24.  To learn more about the “COOL School” designation, visit My Fox Prep. 

Founded by the Tampa Downtown Partnership in partnership with the School District of Hillsborough County and the State of Florida, this K-8 school serves the downtown workforce population. A public “choice” school, Rampello Downtown Partnership School takes full advantage of its location near cultural and educational venues. The school offers creative instructional programs and teaches foreign language and music as a regular course.  For more information the school, visit Rampello School. 

Tampa General Hospital
Kudos goes to Partnership member, Tampa General Hospital’s Level l trauma center who is the first and only program in the state of Florida to earn recognition from the American College of Surgeons (ACS) for the quality of its trauma care.  This achievement, known as verification, recognizes Tampa General’s dedication to providing optimal care for both adults and children.

Verified trauma centers must meet essential criteria that ensure top-notch trauma care capability and institutional performance, as established by the ACS. These criteria mean that the trauma center has demonstrated commitment not only to patient care, but also to education, research, and community outreach.  The verification followed an extensive review by the ACS Committee on Trauma, which was established to improve all phases of patient care in trauma centers and to prevent injuries before they occur. 

Times Continues Regional Growth
Tampa Bay Times reports subscription growth in Hillsborough and Central Pasco Counties, adding 19,800 daily and nearly 13,000 Sunday home delivery subscribers in the past six months ending in March compared to same time period last year.  That brings Sunday circulation to 402,422.  A Scarborough survey showed the Sunday Times has a 9% growth in audience which equates to 83,600 readers over the past five years.  “We continue to invest in our journalism and in Tampa Bay.  Our readers recognize this and see it reflected in the quality of the content that we deliver to them every day,” said Times V.P. and Tampa Publisher Joe DeLuca.  (Mr. DeLuca serves on the Downtown Partnership Board of Directors.) 

The Times is considered one of the top ten newspapers in America and has won nine Pulitzer Prizes, including most recently by Times Editor Tim Nickens and columnist Dan Ruth for their editorial series challenging Pinellas County commissioners on their vote to remove fluoride from the county's drinking water.  The Times Publishing Company also publishes TampaBay.com, the free daily tbt*, tb-two* written by and distributed to area students, and Pulitzer Prize-winning website, PolitiFact.com.

The Times also just announced their partnership with award-winning Stars and Stripes, the U.S. military’s only independent news media, to bring military news to local service members and their families in Tampa Bay.  The Times will distribute 5,000 copies of Stars and Stripes weekly, which will also be available on Thursdays in news racks on MacDill Air Force Base and nearby areas. The free tabloid newspaper will feature articles and in-depth stories reported by Stars and Stripes journalists from U.S. military installations around the world and local advertising.

Schifino Named Lawyer of the Year Burr & Forman LLP, a Partnership member, announced that Tampa partner William (Bill) J. Schifino, Jr. has been selected as “Lawyer of the Year” in Litigation – Securities for the Tampa market by Best Lawyers. Only a single lawyer in each practice area and designated metropolitan area is honored as the “Lawyer of the Year,” making this accolade particularly significant.  This honor is based on impressive voting averages received during the exhaustive peer-review assessments Best Lawyers conducts with thousands of leading lawyers each year. Schifino focuses his practice on commercial litigation, including securities, intellectual property, and business tort litigation serving clients across the state of Florida and throughout Burr & Forman’s five-state Southeastern footprint.  Congratulations on this honor!

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Around Town

Tampa Bay's BEST Business Expo!
Thursday, May 16, 2pm to 6pm
Raymond James Stadium - East Club
125+ local exhibitors, network with 1500+ business professionals, free swag, and you can win a trip to Mexico!  For additional information, please contact Darrah Winkler at 813-342-2491 or email EventsTampa@bizjournals.com.         

Adamo Drive Mural Dedication
May 21, Begins at 2pm
Adamo and 17th Street, Ybor City
Join Mayor Buckhorn and community leaders to dedicate this new, significant public art project that welcomes all those traveling Adamo Drive to Ybor City and Tampa.  On street parking available in the rear of the building for the ceremony. 

West Tampa Mural
Last week, Mayor Bob Buckhorn announced today that the City of Tampa will paint the elevated water tower in West Tampa to welcome residents and honor the history and culture of the West Tampa community.   The painting resembles an oversized cigar wrapper, a nod to the cigar factories which brought so many new residents to the area at the turn of the century. “Welcome to West Tampa,” will be painted across the water tower and will be able to be seen from I-275 and other surface streets.  The project is scheduled for early 2014. To download a rendering of the image, please visit Tampa Gov.

Cultural Development Grant Available
The Arts Council of Hillsborough County is accepting applications for the 2013-14 Cultural Development Grant (CDG) program.  This program is open to 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations to be used for general operations or specific projects from October 1, 2013 to September 30, 2014.  Application deadline is Friday, August 16.  For more information, visit Tampa Arts. 

Social Madness Contest
Tampa Bay Business Journal’s social media contest is still accepting nominations through May 15.  Social Madness is a one-of-a-kind competition that measures a company’s social media engagement.  Last year, nearly 4,000 companies participated, together generating nearly three-quarters of a million votes, 14 million new Facebook likes, 2.2 million new Twitter followers, and more than 202,000 new LinkedIn Connections. Charities received $30,000 cash on behalf of the national champions.  The contest kicks off June 3.  For more information, visit Biz Journals. 

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Tampa Downtown Partnership
400 N. Ashley Drive | Suite 2125 | Tampa | Florida | 33602 | 813.221.3686 | www.tampasdowntown.com