The report was produced with Orlando-based AECOM, and the funding for it came from a grant from the department of Housing and Urban Development.
A decade ago, downtown Tampa was a ghost town after 5:30 p.m., but that hasn't been the case for awhile, especially with the increased use of Curtis Hixon Park for events on weeknights and weekends. Buckhorn said that developments on the west side of the Hillsborough River are also increasing, with plenty more to come. This includes the final expansion of the Riverwalk, and a privately financed renovation of Tampa's historic Water Works Building.
AECOM's Pete Sechler said there are two documents with the study. One is called "Issues and Opportunites," where much of the input received from the community has been assembled. The other is the "Center City Master Plan," which Sechler said consists of the input from the first document to generate the ideas that are in it.
There are 10 "forward moves" in the report:
1. Nurture new river places that spur activity and create access to the Hillsborough River and Garrison Channel, extending the economic value of the Center City waterfront.
2. Make the north downtown neighborhoods a multimodal, walkable area that extends the value of the Riverwalk and cultural venues east to Nebraska Avenue.
3. Establish streets and parks as primary elements of civic identity to catalyze downtown as the location of choice for new private development investment in the region.
4. Redevelop south downtown in a pattern of streets, blocks and public spaces that connect the Channel District with venues in the Downtown Core.
5. Reposition street corridors from traffic conduits to residentially-oriented, balanced “Neighborhood Connectors” and local business “Main Streets.”
6. Rebalance Tampa and Florida Avenues as local streets, joining neighborhoods while providing regional access.
7. Develop an attractive, safe, cross-city, multi-purpose trail that links the eastern and western Center City to neighborhoods and the Riverwalk.
8. Create a premium local transit route crossing the river from the Channel District to North Hyde Park to link residential, employment, and academic areas and capture “choice riders” as a mechanism for both transportation and economic development.
9. Continue on the mission of repositioning the large parcels of property within the Center City for development while supporting grassroots efforts for neighborhood improvements.
10. Leverage substantial education and healthcare assets and investments by linking their large workforce and student populations with community revitalization.
Buckhorn said what will truly stimulate downtown is more residential housing.
"I think you're going to see in the next year and a half significant interest in highrise residential construction," he said, adding that it was important that public spaces "match" the development.
The report does not list any public expenditures that could help stimulate development. Buckhorn said that would depend on the "scope and the scale of the improvements."
Buckhorn name-checked his former City Council colleague Linda Saul-Sena as someone who always believed that the Hillsborough River should be the center of downtown, and not the edge. Saul-Sena, who is now contributing to CL and attended the news conference, said afterwards that "this is great. He (Buckhorn) is talking about exactly the right stuff. Bringing credible people in from elsewhere is brilliant. I think this is spot-on. Now we just need to do it."
Karen Kress with the Downtown Tampa Partnership was an active participant in many of the discussions that have taken place all year long. She said the plan sounds great, but now it comes down to how it will be funded.
Kress has worked downtown for the last decade, and said that there have already been significant advances in city life.
"I think we need to give ourselves a little more credit," she said.
"This document will be a living, breathing blueprint for the development for our downtown and the urban core for the next 20 years," Buckhorn said, hoping future mayors can add to it after he's gone.
The InVision Tampa plan is also scheduled to be discussed at a community open house from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 27, at Tampa Preparatory School, 727 W. Cass St.
