Market Research

Like most of the state of Florida population growth has been positive for the Tampa MSA at roughly 11.06% since 2010, according to US census data. The MSA was 10th in total U.S. net migration and 16th in international migration. The MSA ranked 8th out of the top 25 MSAs for total net migration percentage in 2017 and Pinellas remains the most densely populated county in the state.

More interestingly, Downtown Tampa is the site of the 53-acre, $3 billion urban redevelopment project known as Water Street Tampa. The planned mixed-use development is strategically located in Tampa’s urban core Channelside District and plans to be the world’s first WELL Certified™ city district for wellness. The district will offer a walkable, sustainable, Wi-Fi-connected, and healthy environment for tenants, residents, students, and guests.

Channelside already possesses a dense cluster of amenities proximate to Tampa’s downtown and Riverwalk areas, including Amalie Arena (home of the Tampa Bay Lightning NHL team), Tampa Bay History Center, Tampa Convention Center, Florida Aquarium, and an active passenger cruise terminal that serves close to 900,000 travelers each year- which already help to attract over three million visitors annually.

The Water Street Tampa project is backed by former fund manager, billionaire, and Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik and Microsoft Corp. Co-Founder Bill Gates’ Cascade Investment LLC.

After years of planning serious construction began going vertical in April of 2018 with continued development phases scheduled through 2026 and when completed will contain 9.5 million square feet of space, including 3,500 residences.

The region is concentrating on growing its population and income by offering incentives to the marine and life sciences, specialized manufacturing, financial services, data analytics, and creative arts & design industries.

Unique Aspects

The Tampa Bay MSA often gets looked over in favor of Miami for its beaches and Orlando for its theme parks, but this region is truly a city on the bay offering some of the best beaches and waterways the state and country have to offer. The somewhat lesser known Clearwater Beach and St. Pete Beach are among two of the highest ranked beaches in the country. In fact, Clearwater Beach took TripAdvisor’s top beach in 2018 and 2016 and finished at No. 4 in 2017 while also being the only beach in the US to make the list of Top 25 beaches in the world in 2016. TripAdvisor most recently ranked St. Pete Beach the No. 7 beach in the US in 2018 and it has steadily been ranked in the top 10 by TripAdvisor since 2014.

Tampa Bay also claims to have the World’s Longest Continuous Sidewalk which stretches 4.5 miles along Tampa’s Bayshore Boulevard offering breathtaking views of Hillsborough Bay, Downtown Tampa, marine life like manatees, dolphins, and rays, and a long row of beautiful homes and estates opposite the water. Downtown Tampa also offers The Tampa Riverwalk- a waterside walkway, which when completed, will stretch 2.6 miles along the banks of the Hillsborough River and the shores of Tampa Bay.

Even lesser known is Tampa’s nickname as the “Lightning Capital of the US” and its NHL team the “Tampa Bay Lightning” are more than just clever nicknames. Engineers at Earth Networks analyzed data from the largest lightning detection system in the world and found in 2015 that Tampa had the most lightning strikes in the US.