Ybor's Gas Worx To Transform Industrial Area Into Mixed-Use Community

TAMPA, FL — On the heels of the Tampa City Council's declaration of a housing emergency last week, council members have unanimously approved a plan that will bring 5,000 new homes to a 40-acre parcel in Ybor City, including 325 affordable housing units.

The council approved the master plan for the proposed Gas Worx development in Tampa’s urban core that was once an industrial area located between Ybor City, Encore, the Channel District and downtown Tampa.

A partnership between investor and developer Darryl Shaw and land and community developer Kettler Inc., plans are to transform the aging industrial area into a transit-oriented mixed-use community for up to 5,000 new residences, more than 500,000 square feet of office space and more than 140,000 square feet of retail development.

“I am honored to be part of enhancing Ybor City, a neighborhood I fell in love with at an early age,” said Shaw. “We are committed to preserving the unique sense of place and history that makes Ybor City special while still providing true transit-oriented development, a diverse mix of housing and retail, and a purposeful home to the arts.”

The Gas Worx development will include:

• 325 units of affordable housing
• 3.6 miles of new and reconstructed sidewalks
• 1.2 miles of new multi-use trails
• A new TECO Streetcar stop along Channelside Drive
• 1.8 miles of entirely new streets to restore the historic street grid
• Two new CSX rail crossings and associated safety improvements

“Kettler is excited and proud to be Darryl Shaw’s investment partner in Gas Worx and to help fulfill his vision through our expertise in complex mixed-use development,” said CEO Bob Kettler. “As our company continues to grow in Florida, Gas Worx will be a signature project for us and Tampa, which will further raise Ybor City’s profile as a pull for new businesses and residents.”

Gas Worx will be developed in phases, with Phase 1 due to break ground next month.

Shaw said Phase I will include four- and five-story apartment buildings, including the desperately needed affordable apartments that will be connected by a pedestrian sky bridge.

Ten percent of the units will be workforce housing, representing a $3.8 million investment, replacing the dilapidated Tampa Park Apartments housing project that was demolished.

Subsequent phases will include the rehabilitation of an existing warehouse, which will feature restaurants and retail shops within the next two years.

Once complete, Gas Worx will create an urban neighborhood where residents can live, work and play, said Shaw.

One reason for the council's unanimous support of the project is Shaw's growing reputation for investing in and developing quality projects in the Ybor City area.

The founder and CEO of BluePearl Veterinary Parners, which Shaw took national with 50 locations, Shaw decided to step down as CEO of the 25-year-old veterinary practice in March so he could devote his time to preserving and rehabilitating historic Ybor City.

His previous projects include the historic boutique hotel, Hotel Haya, the Oliva Cigar Co. and the Buchman Building, now Casa Pedrosa.

Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Kettler Inc. is an award-winning 45-year-old multifamily developer, real estate investor, land development and property management company that's become well-known for its premier, quality mixed-used communities in the Washington, D.C., area.

Kettler said his company was drawn to Ybor City's rich history as a major cigar producer starting in the early 1900s to the 1960s, giving Tampa the nickname Cigar City, and its rich Italian, Spanish and Cuban heritage. He said the company plans to incorporate those aspects into the development by converting a historic warehouse into a community retail center and creative work spaces, offering a variety of housing types with a Latin influence as well as more modern architecture as the development transitions into the Water Street Tampa mixed-use currently under construction.

At the same time, the development will incorporate walkable areas, the old-fashioned TECO Streetcar mass transit system and a modern network of roads that will include the latest in safety technology.

Shaw said the name Gas Worx comes from the site's historical use as a large gas production facility owned by TECO and People's Gas. It was decommissioned years ago and the property remediated for any contaminants.

Meatyard Development To Entice Artists Back To Ybor

At the same time, Shaw is proposing another project Ybor City that will transform an eyesore into an appealing historic landmark to be called Meatyard Ybor in honor of Jerry Meatyard, a well-known Ybor City painter and sculptor and an arts professor at Hillsborough Community College in Ybor City from 1969 to 2001. He died in 2016 at the age of 86.

Shaw plans to turn a run-down circa-1920s warehouse at 1728 E. 2nd Ave. into 56 affordable artist studios, a workshop for woodworkers, a print lab and about 3,000 square feet of gallery and exhibition space.

The building was once a distribution center for the Dave Gordon & Co., which sold diesel engines and other parts for the citrus industry.

"There used to be a very strong community of artists in Ybor during the '70s and '80s that moved out when the area became gentrified and rents rose," Shaw said. He hopes the Meatyard will entice artists back to Ybor City.

Architect and artist Jessie Shell and her husband, architect and photographer Fadi Garcia, principal of the Open Workshop for Architecture, will restore and renovate the structure, which will include a whimsical mural on the back of the building while salvaging much of the original building materials including windows, doors, awnings and mill work.

Garcia gave members of the arts community, including the Tampa Arts Alliance, a tour of the building during a March 19 open house. The Tampa Arts Alliance has undertaken an ambitious project to create a robust arts community in Ybor City and other urban areas of Tampa.

“We’re doing this open house really to bring awareness to the project,” Garcia said. “We want to bring the artists back to Ybor City.”

Garcia noted that the warehouse has undergone few changes since it was constructed, making it easy to restore the exterior to its original condition. The biggest changes will take place inside.

“The warehouse is a big open space. It provides a lot of flexibility for us to lay out studios for oil and pastel painters, sculptors and photographers,” Garcia said. “Then the first level will be designed as a showroom and gallery space."

Shaw said he plans to open the Meatyard Ybor by the end of next year.