History of Ybor City - Redevelopment

Redevelopment

Starting in the late 1980s, an influx of artists seeking interesting and inexpensive studio quarters began converting long-vacant storefronts along 7th Avenue into studio and gallery space, leading to a period of commercial gentrification.

By the early 1990s, many of these same old brick buildings on 7th Avenue had been converted into bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and other nightlife attractions. The crowds grew until portions of the old neighborhood became a nighttime carnival, especially on weekends. The city built parking garages and closed 7th Ave. to traffic to deal with the sudden explosion of visitors.

Despite the positive aspects, some residents and leaders became concerned about the disruption from the revelry and traffic. Since around 2000, the City of Tampa has encouraged a broader emphasis in development. A family-oriented shopping complex and movie theater (Centro Ybor) has opened in the former Centro Español social club. New apartments, condominiums and a hotel have been built on the empty lots, along with residences and hotels now occupying restored buildings. In 2009, IKEA opened Florida's largest IKEA store on 22nd Street just north of the Selmon Expressway. People were moving back to the area around once-vibrant 7th Avenue for the first time in many years.

The recovery has not impacted different portions of historic Ybor City equally nor at the same rate. While the once-abandoned commercial district south of Interstate 4 underwent much redevelopment during the 1990s, populated areas north of I-4 and east of 22nd St. did not. Despite years of public and private attempts to spur economic growth, urban decay and high poverty have long been widespread in this area, with hundreds of decades-old homes which survived Urban Renewal still in use.

From 2000 to 2009, however, gentrification and redevelopment slowly began to spread to the current V.M. Ybor neighborhood located just north of I-4 from the Ybor City Historic District. During the period, the poverty rate in this area dropped from over 40% to about 13%.