Construction starts on West Tampa senior housing development

With the opening of Riverfront Park, a brand new 25-acre waterfront park on the west bank of the Hillsborough River, and a slew of ground-breaking ceremonies across West Tampa, urban renewal and investment seems to be moving progressively westward from downtown Tampa.

A new project called the Renaissance at West River is the latest in a trend to redevelop West Tampa. Spearheaded by the Tampa Housing Authority, the Renaissance will bring a 160-unit senior housing building to the nascent neighborhood of West River. Mayor Bob Buckhorn and the Tampa Housing Authority broke ground on the development on Thursday, May 10.

“The Renaissance at West River aligns with the agency’s goal of providing quality affordable housing for our elderly citizens and families,” Lillian Stringer, Director of Public Relations for the Tampa Housing Authority, tells 83 Degrees. “Its location at the corner of Main Street and Rome Avenue is considered to be the gateway to the overall West River Neighborhood with approximately 150 acres of land along the western banks of the Hillsborough River that will serve as a recreational waterway, with families from neighborhoods at all income levels being able to enjoy the river.”

At a cost of $46 million, the six-story Renaissance will help make the West River a focal point of the city’s continued redevelopment. At its completion, the $350 million West River redevelopment will feature nearly 1,250 market-rate apartments, 96 townhouses, and over 840 affordable housing homes. An additional 90,000 square feet of retail space and 70,000 square feet of office space will be available.

The Renaissance and much of the construction to take place at West River will be on the former site of North Boulevard Homes, a public housing project long plagued by crime and poverty. Residents who were displaced by its demolition will have first right of refusal to move back to West River via services like Section 8 subsidized housing.

Baker Barrios Architects, with offices in Orlando and Tampa, designed the buildings.