Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik details vision to boost Tampa
Tampa Bay Lightning and Tampa Bay Storm owner Jeff Vinik spoke about the development of the Tampa area earlier today at the 2015 Florida Governor’s Conference on Tourism.
In front of more than 1,000 tourism industry professionals, Vinik shared his plans to redevelop 40 acres of downtown Tampa into a “live-work-play” destination. The plan includes walk-able parks, new condominium and hotel development, office space and street-side restaurant and retail space. It was the first time Vinik has publicly spoken about his plans in several months.
“There’s no place quite like it anywhere else,” Vinik said. “It’s a great place to live, to visit and to do business. If I had to brand Tampa Bay, I’d say it’s the most welcoming region.”
Vinik purchased the Tampa Bay Lightning ice hockey team in 2010 and together with a partnership with the Bill Gates’ billion dollar investment fund, Cascade Investment, he’s ready to spend $1 billion on improving the area around Amalie Arena.
As part of his keynote address, Vinik unveiled new images of a four star hotel he plans to add to the area. Vinik showed the audience several renderings and spoke about his great fortune to be able to buy the team during the downturn. From that, he said, he has been able to buy other parcels of land around the arena amounting to some 40 acres in total as well as the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel. He now owns or leases more than one million square feet of waterfront and developable space.
“Tampa Bay is becoming a culinary experience. Restaurants are opening here almost every day. That will play a part in downtown too,” Vinik said. “We want to create a real downtown district for Tampa. It’s a very exciting time.”
More photos from the conference are at www.FloridaLeisurePhotography.com
