MMM_05/17/10

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May 17, 2010

Monday Morning Memo is your weekly update on the latest news about downtown Tampa. Here are the sections found in this issue. Click on the sections below or scroll down to read the complete issue:

Partnership Matters | Opportunities | Studies and Reviews | Seeing is Believing |
Special Services District | Creative Urban Core | Downtown Happenings

Partnership Matters

The Partnership is continuing its popular Downtown Debriefing Series with an event titled “ENCORE!, Downtown’s Tempo District.”. The stage is set-- A long-waited revival begins! Urban renewal in harmony with a vibrant past creates ENCORE!: a 40+ acre mixed-use redevelopment district in Downtown Tampa. The Encore area has some incredible history. Ray Charles and Ella Fitzgerald recorded and wrote here. A city within a city concept, ENCORE! unites the central business district with Ybor City, Tampa Heights and other neighborhoods. Accented by public art, a revitalized park, museum, and a grand boulevard, ENCORE!'s transit-oriented master plan blends multifamily, retail, office, hotel and a grocery store into an electrified rhythm you can't ignore. The featured speaker is Roxanne Amoroso, senior vice president - Real Estate Development for Bank of America Merrill Lynch. This Downtown Debriefing Series event will be held Tuesday, May 25th at the Embassy Suites Tampa - Downtown Convention Center (513 South Florida Avenue). The event will begin with networking and registration at 7:30 a.m. followed by the program and continental breakfast from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m The cost for Partnership members is $20.00, potential member $25.00 and a corporate table (for 8) is $160.00. To register go to events.tampasdowntown.com. Parking available at Embassy Suites for $6.00 (Mention the Tampa Downtown Partnership event to take advantage of this 50% discount). The Downtown Debriefing Series is sponsored by Tampa Electric Company!

Each year the Partnership holds an annual forum to update the community on the progress that has been made on the 2005 Downtown Vision and Action Plan, as well as to provide an opportunity for TDP members, downtown workers, residents, property holders, etc. to give feedback and actively participate in shaping downtown's future. A joint effort of the Partnership and the City of Tampa, the Downtown Vision and Action Plan was a nine month study of existing conditions and opportunities in downtown, resulting in a set of recommendations for public & private development, and included the charge that the plan should be revisited, adjusted and updated annually. As Downtown Tampa grows and continues to change, public input is vital to its success. Please come share your thoughts on the future of downtown. This is a free public forum. It will be held at Tampa Union Station (601 N. Nebraska Avenue) starting at 5:00 p.m. with registration and the actual forum beginning at 5:30 p.m. Your input is valuable.

Please join the Tampa Downtown Partnership as it celebrates its 24th Annual Meeting and Luncheon. In addition to the affirmation of new officers and Board members, Mayor Pam Iorio will give her 8th, and final, "State of Downtown" presentation as part of the program. The Keynote speaker will be Gary Sasso, President and CEO of Carlton Fields Attorneys of Law, and Chairman of the Tampa Bay Partnership. Mr. Sasso also serves as the Chair of "Moving Hillsborough Forward", a community campaign supporting the Hillsborough County Transportation Referendum. In the near future, Downtown Tampa will be reinforced as the epicenter of transportation in our region. Mr. Sasso will provide an update on the progress of the campaign, and the importance of the business community's involvement in this process, in order to help solve our traffic congestion problems, improve our economy by bringing jobs to the county, and create increased mobility options for our region. Admission to the Annual Meeting is as follows:

Priority Seating Corporate Table (8) - $500
Corporate Table (8) - $400
Member Individual Seat $60
Potential Member $70

To register online, click here.

Give your kids the freedom to be mobile during the summer. With the Summer Blast Pass, you can lose the chauffeur hat this summer. For just $30, you can have freedom. The Summer Blast Pass allows kids 17 and under to have unlimited rides on all HART local routes from today (5/17) to August 31 for just $30.00. More than three months of unlimited rides for under 30¢ a day. To pick up your Summer Blast Pass, stop by HART on Franklin or the Marion Transit Center or visit www.goHART.org for more information.

The Lightning Foundation, charitable arm of the Tampa Bay Lightning, is now accepting letters of inquiry from worthy organizations interested in being a part of the Foundation’s Annual Grant Program. Interested organizations should log on to www.tampabaylightning.com to view the procedures for submitting a letter of inquiry. Further questions should be directed to Kasey Smith, Executive Director of the Lightning Foundation, at ksmith@sptimesforum.com or (813) 301-6764. Letters can be submitted to Smith via email, in person at the St. Pete Times Forum or by mail to 401 Channelside Dr. Tampa, FL 33602. All letters of inquiry should be received prior to June 1, 2010. The Foundation’s Annual Grant Program donated more than $82,000 to 17 worthy organizations including two scholarships through the Dave Andreychuk Scholarship Program at the conclusion of the 2009-2010 season. The Lightning Foundation and the Tampa Bay Lightning donated $863,000.00 in monetary and in-kind support to the Tampa Bay community last season and touched more than 815 charitable organizations. The Foundation and Tampa Bay Lightning Community Relations Departments are proud to provide autographed Lightning merchandise for charitable auctions and organize major fundraising events throughout the year.

Bring the whole family for a fun-filled afternoon at the Central City YMCA. You’ll get the chance to meet the staff, take a tour of the newly renovated facility, enjoy snacks, family games, swimming and more! In addition, the YMCA will be hosting its 1st Annual 3-on-3 basketball tournament for ages 13-16, 17-20, and 21 and up. At least one player on each team must be a Y member, for fees & other info please call now! Don’t miss out. Registration ends May 31st at 8am! Find out more by clicking here.

The Republican National Committee announced last week that the 2012 Republican National Convention (RNC) will be held in Tampa Bay. Over 40,000 visitors will gather the week of Aug. 27, 2012. The proposed venue for the 2012 RNC will be the state-of-the-art St. Pete Times Forum and the RNC will use an estimated 15,000 hotel room nights for five nights. Additionally, as part of the 40,000 visitors, more than 15,000 media personal from around the world will converge in Tampa Bay. The impact of the 2008 convention in Minneapolis was estimated at nearly $170 million in new spending, along with approximately 2,800 new jobs that produced $100 million in wages.

Congratulations to the Partnership’s Tampa BayCycle campaign for being awarded Florida Bicycle Association’s Program of the Year!

The Tampa Downtown Market ended its second season on good reviews. The last day for the Market was last Friday (5/14). In April the Market conducted a survey of its patrons. Here is what was uncovered:

83.6% of respondents reported that what they liked most about the Tampa Downtown Market was the selection of vendors. Second highest selection was the Market’s location at 82.9%
When asked to rate the various aspects of the Tampa Downtown Market, the majority of respondents reported all categories in either Good or Great. The highest rated items were fruits and vegetables, ready-to-eat foods, flowers and plants, and musicians.
When asked if they were likely to visit a downtown merchant because of the Tampa Downtown Market, 67.6% responded that they were “more likely.” This was followed by “somewhat likely” at 28.3%.
When asked which day of the work week, other than Friday, would people like to see the Market operate, Friday remained the clear winner with the option to select “Friday works just fine for me.” This was 97.3% of the respondents.
People learned about the Tampa Downtown Market mainly through friends/family and fellow co-workers. This was at 35.6%.
78.5% of people who come to the Tampa Downtown Market are female.
78.1% work downtown
Other than downtown workers, the majority of those who travel to the Market are from the Brandon area.
56.1% of those who shop at the Market have children.
Of those who do have children, the number of children living at home is 3.
46.0% of respondents have a college degree with 20.9% having a graduate degree.

The Tampa Downtown Market is a program of the Tampa Downtown Partnership. For more information about the Tampa Downtown Market log onto www.tampadowntownmarket.com. Look for news about the Market’s return in October coming soon!

The SS American Victory Ship Mariners Memorial and Museum received a very positive story by visitsouth.com. The story highlights the historic significance of the ship and how visitors can gain an understanding of what it was like to serve on the ship during its participation in WWII, Korean and Vietnam wars. To read the story, click here.

Commercial real estate firm Colliers Arnold has released its 1st Quarter 2010 commercial office market report for the Tampa Bay area. To view the report, click here.

Tampa Preparatory School student Taylor Burdge won the Girl's Single in U.S. Rowing's Southeast States qualifier, beating out competitors from seven states! Taylor’s success, which came two weeks after winning the State Championship, has earned her a bid to the U.S. Rowing Youth National Championships to be held June 11-13 in Cincinnati. After cruising to an easy 40-second victory in the preliminary races on Saturday, her toughest competition was once again an Academy of Holy Names senior rower during Sunday’s finals. In the tightest race of the season over a longer course of 1,750 meters, Taylor held off a late charge from the Academy rower for a 3-second victory. The National Championships are held on a 2,000-meter course with the toughest competitors expected to come from California and the Northeast. Read more about last weekend’s competition in TBO’s “Plant Rowers win Regional Titles.” Congratulations on this tremendous accomplishment and good luck in the National Championship!

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Seeing is Believing

The much anticipated ENCORE project broke ground last week. ENCORE is the redevelopment of what once was a public housing development called Central Park Village. ENCORE will serve as a catapult of much needed investment in the north end of downtown. Read about ENCORE by clicking here. Then, make sure to come to the Downtown Debriefing Series event scheduled for May 25th to hear directly from those who will be developing this important site.

This is the Tampa UCAP Downtown Water Pipeline Replacement Project update for May 17. A map with the road/lane closures is available by clicking here.

Twiggs Street (west of Meridian): The two lanes on the north side of Twiggs from Meridian to Pierce will be closed. Motorists should expect a new traffic pattern as the two lanes on the south side will be westbound only. Eastbound motorists will be detoured on Pierce to Jackson. Limited street parking will be available in this area.
Twiggs Street (east of Meridian): Eastbound traffic will be maintained and traffic will shift to one lane westbound from Meridian to Channelside.
Twiggs Street (at Tampa): No through traffic on Twiggs at Tampa.
Nebraska Avenue (Kennedy to Cass): Two center lanes closed. One northbound lane and one southbound lane remain open. No left turn onto Twiggs from northbound lane.
Cass Street (Doyle Carlton to Florida): Northern parking and travel lane closed. Two lanes remain open for eastbound traffic.
Cass Street (Pierce to Jefferson): All lanes closed.
Orange Avenue (Tyler to Cass): One southbound lane only.
Polk Street (Ashley to Jefferson): Northern westbound travel lane and parking lane closed to through traffic.
Tampa Street (Tyler to Madison): Two travel lanes, parking lane and bike lane on the west side closed. Two lanes remain open for southbound traffic. No street parking available in this area.
Jefferson Street (Twiggs to Zack): Northbound lanes closed. The southbound lanes remain open for local access only.
Zack Street (Franklin to Florida): Northernmost lane closed on Monday, May 17th and Tuesday, May 18th.
Florida Avenue (Cass to Zack): Two western lanes closed on Monday, May 17th and Tuesday, May 18th.

Additional information about this project can be found on the Tampa UCAP website at www.tampa-ucap.com.

TECO Line Streetcar System continues to make progress expanding up Franklin Street. For the latest on construction news, click here.

CHANNEL DISTRICT RESIDENTS AND WORKERS: Construction on Washington Street is scheduled to begin in September, but there are more utility relocations to be completed prior to starting. Over the next few months, you will see various utility crews working intermittently along Washington Street. These activities are not expected to cause any significant obstruction to traffic, but again, your assistance with safety is appreciated. Please be aware of workers and drive safely around work crews.

The Hillsborough County Commission voted in favor of giving county residents the opportunity to decide on the proposed 1% transportation surtax in the November election. The decision paves the way for Hillsborough Area Regional Transit to move forward with its plans to improve transportation throughout the County. If residents approve the tax this fall, the money will be used to help fund county-wide transit projects such as an expanded bus and Express Bus Service, the implementation of Neighborhood Circulators, Bus Rapid Transit and Light Rail. HART's Transit Expansion plans are explained in detail on our website at www.goHART.org.

Kudos to the City of Tampa Parking Division for including downtown’s first motorcycle/scooter on-street parking spaces as part of the Zack Street two-way conversion. There are several spaces on both sides of Zack between Ashley and Florida Ave. Click here for more information.

ATTENTION ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONALS: The Tampa Downtown Partnership has teamed up with the International Economic Development Council to offer a class in downtown Tampa on Real Estate Development and Reuse. This class will be offered November 4th and 5th at Hyatt Regency Tampa. If you register now you can save! Use promotional code TAMPA10 and your fee is only $425.00 per person. To register and find out more, click here.

National Bike Month activities continue this week with the bike to work ride on Friday, May 21. Groups will be biking in from all directions and meeting up at Indigo Coffee afterwards. The Downtown YMCA is offering free locker/shower use. Other activities this week include street skills class, bike maintenance clinic and a Seminole Heights “hub grub” ride. Visit the www.tampabaycycle.com website for more information.

What is “25 in 2010”? The Tampa Downtown Partnership is continuing efforts to make you aware of the impact culture and arts are having on downtown Tampa’s continued growth as an urban center. This year, 2010, has significant impact with the opening of several new museums, public spaces, events, festivals and more. There are 25 significant cultural contributors in all. Did you know that you can have someone come to your organization and speak about “25 in 2010”? By clicking here you can learn about the speakers’ bureau that has been created, take a look at the PowerPoint presentation and view the brochure that will be distributed. This is all under the “Engagement” section.

Have you been to Sail Pavilion recently? This new waterfront oasis located at the Tampa Convention Center is the perfect location to enjoy the beautiful weather we are experiencing and relax to the wonderful views. The Sail Pavilion is busy this May with many activities. The Sail Pavilion is also getting ready for its one year birthday celebration. Find out all the details about what’s going to take place by clicking here.

Café Dufrain is celebrating Mondays with a corkage free night! If you have a special bottle of wine, bring it to Café Dufrain for dinner and enjoy the beautiful view of downtown’s skyline from the restaurant’s patio. To find out more about corkage free night, click here.

Third Thursdays at the Planning Commission continues this week on Thursday (5/20). Bring your brown bag lunch to the Planning Commission’s offices and be informed. This week the speaker is David Armijo, CEO of HART. Mr. Armijo will discuss the transit authority’s roll in the community. Those who attend will also be able to ask questions. Find out more by clicking here.

The City of Tampa continues with its popular Friday Extra Concert Series this Friday (5/21). These concerts will take place in Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park beginning at 7:00 p.m. They are free to the public. The opening band for this week’s concert is Thick as Thieves Trio. The main act will be Stacey Knights. Find out more about the concert series by clicking here.

The music of award-winning composer Brother John Paul Russo returns to downtown Tampa on Sunday (5/23) at 4:00 pm, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, as the featured presentation of Florida Pro Musica’s season finale. Larry Kent will direct Brother John’s beautiful and moving Missa pro nova aurora (Mass for a new dawn), for a four-part chorus a cappella. The one-hour concert will also include two settings of American folk songs: Shenandoah by Seattle-based composer Melinda Bargreen, Daemon Lover by University of Tampa composer-in-residence David Clark Isele, plus a hauntingly beautiful love song by Eric Whitacre. A reception with the musicians and composer Russo follows the concert. Tickets are $15.00. Get more details by clicking here.

Next week…On Sunday, May 30th from 10 am - 4 pm, in honor of Memorial Day Weekend, all active or retired military personnel and their families are invited to the Henry B. Plant Museum free of charge. You can explore the Museum at your leisure or be entertained by a self-guided audio tour. At 2 pm enjoy live theater. Upstairs/ Downstairs at the Tampa Bay Hotel presents Henry Dobson, 20 year-old volunteer soldier encamped with his regiment in Tampa for several weeks prior to the outbreak of the Spanish- American War in 1898. Complimentary refreshments will be served on the veranda. For more information call Gianna Russo, Curator of Education at (813) 258-7304 or email her at grusso@ut.edu.

You can find cool events on downtown’s own online events calendar! Click here to find out what’s taking place when and get out to have fun.

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601 N. Ashley Drive, Suite 1100, Tampa FL 33602
(813) 221-3686 phone; (813) 229-1328 fax: www.tampasdowntown.com
Be in the know faster by following the Tampa Downtown Partnership on Twitter at www.twitter.com/tampasdowntown or become a fan of downtown Tampa by visiting the Partnership’s Facebook page.