TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Jeff Vinnik, owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning, has announced the sale of his interest in the Water Street development.
Vinik’s Strategic Property Partners said Vinik will remain an active advisor to Water Street Tampa.
He plans to sell it to Cascade Investments, a company owned by Bill Gates.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Cascade has been involved in the Water Street neighborhood since its inception.
Since its inception, the Vinik Group has spent more than $2 billion on this project, building 5 million square feet of mixed-use property. This includes 12 new downtown buildings, over 1,400 hotel rooms, over 1,300 residential units, and 500,000 square feet of office space.
Shannon Reiser now calls the area home.
“It’s great. I love being able to walk everywhere. It’s probably my favorite part. It has a real community feel. You don’t miss the Florida vibe with this,” Lazer said.
Water Street took over the once-challenged channelside development and turned it into Sparkman Wharf. Jeff Allison, who runs Jotoro Kitchen and Tequila Bar there, said he hopes the change of ownership won’t affect the growing area.
“I don’t think that happens very often, but I hope it brings in more business,” Allison said.
Ben and Lisa Placokit run Mondern Paws, a natural pet market a few streets away. They said they came up with the business idea after moving to the Water Street area.
“My wife and I used to live here, and there were a lot of dogs and cats in the area, but there weren’t any dog or cat stores around,” Plakokit said. rice field. “We first moved here about 11 years ago, and we’ve really seen a lot of change in the neighborhood. It’s actually grown from a small town to what I think of as a big city.”
Bob Buckhorn was the mayor at the time the Tampa area was being developed.
“Tampa couldn’t have had more defenders, I couldn’t have had more teammates, and those in need in our community couldn’t have had more friends. When many in Tampa didn’t, Jeff Vinnik believed in Tampa’s potential and put his resources and passion into helping the city write its next chapter,” Buckhorn said. Told.
