Wagamama Debuts 1st Florida Restaurant at Water Street Tampa Development

TAMPA, FL — Strategic Property Partners LLC announced Monday that Wagamama, a popular global Asian fusion restaurant brand, will debut its first Florida restaurant at Water Street Tampa.

Wagamama, with U.S. locations in New York City and Boston, will bring its Asian-inspired cuisine to 1050 Water St., a coming residential development in the larger Water Street Tampa neighborhood, in early 2022.

“Water Street Tampa is creating a new neighborhood and an entirely new retail experience with placemaking and thoughtful community experiences programmed into every element,” said Lee Schaffler, chief portfolio officer for SPP.

“Wagamama appreciates attention to detail and is a first-to-market retailer with a lively dining experience, which is exactly what we're pursuing at Water Street Tampa," Schaffler said. "We are committed to the future of Tampa, and with the addition of Wagamama, we continue our goal of providing residents and visitors with the ultimate lifestyle experience, all in one place.”

Encompassing approximately 4,200 square feet, Wagamama’s Water Street location will offer its signature variety of noodle dishes, ramens, shareables and craft cocktails. With more than 200 locations, Wagamama has established a reputation for a vibrant, social dining experience with its unique recipes that offer a fresh, modern take on classic Asian-fusion food.

Situated at the base of 1050 Water St., Wagamama will provide another dining option for the growing number of people who live and work in Water Street Tampa.

“With our fresh, flavorful cuisine and engaged, social atmosphere, Wagamama is ideally suited for the Tampa market,” said Richard Flaherty, co-CEO of Wagamama USA. “We knew Water Street Tampa, with its focus on community and vibrant street-level programming, was the perfect fit for our high-quality, high-energy dining experience. We’re thrilled to be part of this exciting new neighborhood and make Water Street Tampa our first location in Florida.”

Spanning 56 acres and connecting Tampa’s central business district to its waterfront, Water Street Tampa is a mixed-use development containing retail and dining destinations, new public parks, homes and offices.

With Water Street Tampa’s Phase One completing early next year, retailers throughout the neighborhood range from ice cream shops and high-end sushi restaurants to fitness studios and local clothing boutiques.

Last month, SPP announced that international boutique fitness studio, Orangetheory Fitness, Shortwave Coffee and Chill Bros Scoop Shop have signed leases in Water Street Tampa.

“We’re thrilled that tenants like Orangetheory, Shortwave Coffee and Chill Bros. recognize the value of establishing a footprint at Water Street Tampa," said Schaffler.

Celebrated for its science-backed approach to fitness, Orangetheory will be located in the retail space of the Cumberland Avenue parking garage in Water Street Tampa, adjacent to Thousand & One, the neighborhood’s newest trophy office tower.

The location will offer heart rate-based total-body group workouts that combine science, coaching and technology to guarantee maximum results to members when it opens this fall.

Shortwave Coffee, an award-winning craft coffee shop, roastery and café based out of Columbia, Missouri, will open its first Floridalocation in Tampa at Sparkman Wharf in early 2022. The café will be located in one of Sparkman Wharf’s premium ground-floor retail spaces.

The business roasts its own coffee beans, and will serve espresso-based drinks, freshly brewed coffee and tea, as well as breakfast, lunch and bakery items.

Shortwave Coffee will also provide full espresso bars and coffee catering in addition to pop-up café events.

Chill Bros. Scoop Shop, founded by and named after the Tampa native Chillura brothers, is moving into the base of Cora, the new apartment building that rises along Cumberland Avenue that is now leasing.

Chill Bros. crafts ice cream, waffle cones and toppings locally, and employs a team of pastry chefs and master gelatiers to ensure every scoop has the perfect flavor. The brothers will sell their traditional American-style ice cream — an all-natural custard base made from Florida milk and cream, egg yolks, pure cane sugar and a dash of salt – when they open in early 2022.

In addition to Wagamama, Water Street Tampa will also welcome an expansion of Naked Farmer,
the farm-to-table restaurant that launched in St. Petersburg and gained popularity when it opened in a shipping container space at Sparkman Wharf.

Naked Farmer will operate a full-service restaurant at the base of Thousand & One, which opened to office tenants last month.

Heron, the first residential building to open in the neighborhood, will be home to 3 Corners restaurant, which evolved from The Corners Pizza.

Additional retailers throughout the neighborhood include Jeni’s Ice Cream, Joyful Notion, Splitsville, F45, Jotoro, Edison’s Swigamajig, Gallito, Flock and Stock, Main Ingredient, Modern Paws, LightHaus Beer Garden, Fit Bowl Co. Superfood Bar, Murph’s BBQ, Noble Rice, BurgerFi, The Battery, Coldwell Banker and 7th + Grove South and GreenWise Market.

Water Street Tampa is being developed on contiguous land the company owns in downtown Tampa along the waterfront with approximately 9 million square feet of new commercial, residential, hospitality, cultural, entertainment, educational and retail uses, totaling more than $3.5 billion in private investment from SPP.

The company is owned and capitalized through a partnership between Cascade Investment LLC and Jeff Vinik, owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

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