Channelside Bay Plaza to be remade as Sparkman Wharf,

with waterfront lawn, beer garden, outdoor dining and

loft-style offices
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Updated: July 26, 2018 at 06:11 PM

TAMPA Goodbye, Channelside Bay Plaza.

Hello, Sparkman Wharf.

The developers of the $3 billion Water Street Tampa project on Thursday dropped the veil on
their plans for their makeover of the under-performing Channelside Bay Plaza mixed-use
shopping center.

Gone will be the movie theaters and one whole wing of the building, which was focused inward
on a circular courtyard as opposed to outward toward the best feature of the location, Tampas
waterfront.

In their place will be a new space for outdoor dining and events, new uses for the rest of the
project and a new name that harkens back to how Tampa became a working port in the first
place.

When complete in early 2020, Sparkman Wharf will include about 180,000 square feet of office
lofts, 65,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, plus a 1-acre outdoor space with a lawn, outdoor
dining and beer garden.

Lets break down the outdoor features, which are expected to open in October:

First, the name: The place is named for former U.S. Rep. Stephen M. Sparkman, who in 1905
engineered a congressional appropriation of $448,350 (more than $12 million in current dollars)
to dredge a channel for Tampas port a political victory that would shape Tampa for a century.

The lawn: It will be open to the waterfront and include a stage to be programmed with local
performers by the organizers of the Gasparilla Music Festival, plus an LED screen thats about 10-
by-17 feet to show Tampa Bay Lightning games, other games, movies at dusk, even TED talks.

The dining garden: This sounds something like the Heights Public Market at the Armature
Works, but moved outside.

Developers promise large shade trees and 10 well-known local chefs and restaurateurs who will
experiment with menus and street-food concepts not found anywhere else in the area.

Each will be housed in a re-purposed shipping container, with murals paying tribute to natural
Florida and painted by Pep Rally studios of Tampa. Two of the 10 concepts will be Foundation
Coffee and Whatever Pops (popsicles and other cold treats).

"Happy-dancing in our kitchen," Whatever Pops owner Steve McGlocklin said in a statement
released through the developers. Foundation Coffee owner Jason Smith said the idea behind
Sparkman Wharf a unique place for one-on-one connections is "why we are committed to this
project."

The beer garden: Run by Joel Bigham and Daniel K. Charley, the Fermented Reality Biergarten
will be an open-air space with more than 30 taps with an emphasis on Florida craft beer
alongside wine, iced tea and natural sodas. The 3,000-square-foot covered bar will offer shade,
outdoor televisions and cooling misters.

"Honored," Bigham says. "Everyone desires to be part of something bigger than themselves."
Combining the vision for Sparkman Wharf with top local culinary talent "made this project hard
to resist being a part of."

Offices with water views: Construction on the office space is underway and is expected to
continue through 2019.

This winter, Channelsides existing Mediterranean facade will be scraped off and replaced by
something with a more industrial feel. The building will have a two-story office lobby at mid-
block along Channelside Drive.

The space where the movie theaters were will become loft-like offices, some with 40-foot
ceilings overlooking the water.

The office space will be targeted to creative and innovation-oriented tenants. Tampa Bay
Lightning owner and Water Street developer Jeff Vinik has said he sees the innovation hub hes
starting in Tampa being in this space, but nothings final. (Vinik is creating the innovation hub
himself, but has partnered with Cascade Investment, the capital fund created by Microsoft
founder Bill Gates, on the larger Water Street Tampa project.)

"The theaters were a huge amount of space," with high ceilings and "all along the water, solid
walls," said James Nozar, CEO of Strategic Property Partners, the Vinik-Cascade development
company. "Were opening it all up. Its some pretty great space."

 
For those who don’t head to the beach or the mall on a lazy Sunday afternoon, checking out
open houses can be a not-bad way to spend a few hours. But let’s face it, most of what’s on the
market is pretty mundane staff, a lot of 3/2s...
Channelside Bay Plaza to be remade as Sparkman Wharf, with waterfront lawn,
beer garden, outdoor dining and loft-style offices
TAMPA Goodbye, Channelside Bay Plaza.Hello, Sparkman Wharf.The developers of the $3 billion
Water Street Tampa project on Thursday dropped the veil on their plans for their makeover of
the under-performing Channelside Bay Plaza mixed-use shopping c...