The unique perspective and provocative opinions of Joe O’Neill
Tampa Bay Tidbits
Imagine
building a spec office tower these days? For Tampa it’s no longer an
edifice hex. For this is what’s happening with the onset of construction of the
20-story 1001Water Street office tower that Strategic Property
Partners is building next to the nearly completed USF Morsani College of
Medicine. But it’s a reminder of what can happen when a developer such as SPP
has faith in this market and, even more importantly, can tap into the capital of
its deep-pocketed founders: Jeff Vinik and Cascade Investment, the personal
wealth fund of Bill Gates, one of the richest people in the world.
The
Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is now awaiting proposals for body
cams. We all know the urban-policing reality. It will cost: as in digital
video storage, maintenance and retrieval. Plus, privacy issues. But we also
know the inevitable costs of deadly force and no transparency.
Whatever
the uncertainty over the high-profile Riverwalk Place tower, where developers
have stopped taking condo reservations, this much we definitely know: There
will not be a Trump Tower Tampa going up there.