TAMPA, FL—Strategic Property Partners, LLC has achieved what one official termed a “momentous milestone”—the beginning of construction on the first building of its $3-billion Water Street Tampa development here.

The developer broke ground last week on the 519-room JW Marriott hotel, which will be one of three hotels that will anchor the Water Street Tampa development, one of the largest downtown development projects taking place in the nation.

Strategic Property Partners report the groundbreaking is a prelude to significant construction in the offing at the more than 50-acre project site. Strategic Property officials say that the JW Marriott hotel will be the first of 10 buildings that will be under construction in the next year. In fact, the developer estimates that by the spring of 2019, there will be about 20 construction cranes and approximately 2,800 construction workers at multiple Water Street Tampa jobsites. These buildings will join the University of South Florida's Morsani College of Medicine and Health Heart Institute, which broke ground last September.

In another first, the JW Marriott hotel will mark the luxury brand's debut in the Tampa Bay region when it opens in 2020. Three hotels – the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel and Marina, the JW Marriott Tampa hotel, and the Tampa EDITION – will anchor the Water Street Tampa neighborhood. Strategic Property Partners announced earlier this month that the 173-room Tampa EDITION was added to the project that at full build-out is expected to total 9 million square feet of mixed-use space. In addition to the JW Marriott Tampa and the Tampa EDITION, Strategic Property Partners is renovating the 727-room Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel and Marina.

“Breaking ground on the JW Marriott Tampa is a momentous milestone for the broader neighborhood we are creating,” says Strategic Property Partners' CEO James Nozar. “Water Street Tampa aims to add a fresh new perspective to Tampa's ongoing urban renaissance, offering a new destination for travelers and providing Tampa residents with an exciting new space to explore and enjoy every day.” Strategic Property Partners is a partnership of Cascade Investment, LLC and Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik.

The JW Marriott Tampa hotel is being designed by Nichols Brosch Wurst Wolfe & Associates, with interiors by Champalimaud Design. The hotel will be adjacent to the Tampa Convention Center and Amalie Arena, home to the National Hockey League's Tampa Bay Lightning. The hotel will feature 100,000 square feet of meeting and event space, including the largest hotel ballroom in Tampa Bay at approximately 30,000 square feet.

The JW Marriott Tampa will also offer multiple social spaces and amenities across six levels, including a full-service spa and fitness center; an expansive pool and sun terrace; a full-service, ground-floor restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating and neighborhood-serving retail outlets. A rooftop lounge and terrace on the hotel's 26th floor will boast sweeping 360-degree views of downtown Tampa and Hillsborough Bay, and will become the highest rooftop bar in Tampa Bay.

Instant Insights /

Construction Begins at Massive Water Street Tampa Development

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