Tampa When you see an opportunity

Duke

. . first name's "Daisy" boys
May 12, 2008
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http://www2.tbo.com/entertainment/e...2/4/mebizo1-land-near-forum-bought-ar-530376/

If you're like me, there have been times you have said to yourself 'man, if I had only had the foresight to get in early enough'..

The housing bubble killed the economy, and many fortunes, but people who got in, and out, early enough made a killing.

Downtown Denver was a deadzone in 1986. By 1994, it was a bustling urban metropolis that had life 24/7.

I bring this up in relation to the above article.

Jeff Vinik, owner of the Lightning, and now most of Tampa between the convention center and channelside (and yes, he's working to buy channelside too), is setting himself up to do to Tampa what others did to downtown Denver.

So, the question is, just exactly how does one profit from this?

Bars, restaurants, sports apparel stores, general merch... If the plans go through there will be a metric FUCKTON of new commercial, and eventual residential, going into downtown.

I would guess, to make it work, would involve some kind of large cash reserves, as going in now is speculative and full of risk. But the potential reward for a 3-5x ROI is definitely there. Once, (or if), they announce a stadium is going into downtown, the rush to grab anything near it will be fast, swift, and over sooner than it began, and anyone moving slowly will be left out in the cold. This is a first adopter scenario to the extreme.

So, I'm just going to open this up for general brainstorming and convo now, and we'll see what develops.
 
The seller was a legal entity tied to the Italiano family of Tampa. The buyer is Crestline Acquisitions Group LLC of Greenwood Village Colo., a company related to Michael and Ray Baker. Last year, they directed the purchase of 7 acres across from the Forum immediately to the west for $6.8 million.

Ray Baker is the longtime chairman of the Denver Metropolitan Major League Baseball Stadium District, which owns Coors Field. He helped pull together public financing for the ballpark that is home to the Colorado Rockies.

The parcel in Tampa that sold two weeks ago is also about 7 acres and stretches from Channelside Drive on the south to East Finley Street on the north, and it is bordered on either side by South Caesar Street and just before South Meridian Avenue.

Officials with the Lighting confirmed the deal and noted that Vinik is involved in the property as a part owner, but they said there are no plans for the land. For years, the Lightning and Forum operators have used land north of the Forum for employee parking and to store the scores of trucks that often come in for concerts and shows.

"As one of the economic hubs of the Channelside District, we remain interested in what is happening in the neighborhood," the Lightning said in a statement. "There are no short- or long-term plans for the property at this point, other than creating increased parking options for Lightning hockey games, Storm football games and other Times Forum events."

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Channelside is near dead right now, howl at the moon and the movie theater recently closed, I wonder if that's part of the overall plan.

Make current property owners sell as activity and property values drop, snatch it up on the cheap cheap
 
Getting in ground level is awesome. I bought my condo in 03 when rates and prices were low. I still lost on value but my 3% mortgage is still kicking ass by today's rates.

Speaking of loans, a friend of mine just got into equity swaps (reverse mortgages) and has been doing well. Lots of bubble to ride there, all the old people lost their savings so they're tapping their paid off homes for cash. He makes almost 40k quarterly.
 
Channelside is near dead right now, howl at the moon and the movie theater recently closed, I wonder if that's part of the overall plan.

Make current property owners sell as activity and property values drop, snatch it up on the cheap cheap

It's quite possible you could see Channelside get demolished. It was built as more of a gateway to capture tourists to and from the cruiseships as opposed to a destination center. Part of the deals being discussed would include Tampa giving up their cruise port to St. Pete in return for the Rays. Why this is viable is that the Sunshine Skyway will soon be too small to allow the newer, larger cruise ships to pass beneath it, so giving St. Pete the landing is a good trade off. This would open up the demolition of channelside for a mixed residential/commercial venture.
 
Getting in ground level is awesome. I bought my condo in 03 when rates and prices were low. I still lost on value but my 3% mortgage is still kicking ass by today's rates.

Speaking of loans, a friend of mine just got into equity swaps (reverse mortgages) and has been doing well. Lots of bubble to ride there, all the old people lost their savings so they're tapping their paid off homes for cash. He makes almost 40k quarterly.

yeah, something about reverse mortgages sounds scummy to me, though. Like Cash for Gold but with houses.
 
Would make me a little sad to see channelside go, lots of drunken nights there. A lawyer friend lived on Tropical Breeze Way, so we would park at her place, walk across the bridge to channelside, then stumble home absolutely shitfaced.
 
Would make me a little sad to see channelside go, lots of drunken nights there. A lawyer friend lived on Tropical Breeze Way, so we would park at her place, walk across the bridge to channelside, then stumble home absolutely shitfaced.

yeah, but the channelside you remember is already dead. If they build up Tampa, there will be a LOT of new places to go play.

Ask Fly & April what Denver is like down around Coors Field. It's a fucking 21+ playground.
 
yeah, something about reverse mortgages sounds scummy to me, though. Like Cash for Gold but with houses.
I get that, they're surprisingly not a bad deal though. They can't take your house, the debt is paid when you die, and you only pay property taxes. As the person getting it there isn't really a downside.
 
yeah, but the channelside you remember is already dead. If they build up Tampa, there will be a LOT of new places to go play.

Ask Fly & April what Denver is like down around Coors Field. It's a fucking 21+ playground.

I didnt say i would weep and chain myself in the center of the plaza. It would make me sad in the same way as seeing a partially restored classic car in a junkyard.
 
yeah, but the channelside you remember is already dead. If they build up Tampa, there will be a LOT of new places to go play.

Ask Fly & April what Denver is like down around Coors Field. It's a fucking 21+ playground.

they're about to do that to the area around turner field. sacrificing a shit ton of parking lots owned by the braves for it surrounding the stadium
 
Hmmm

http://www.tampabay.com/news/localgovernment/article1255884.ece

The Tampa Bay Rays formally asked Thursday for the right to explore new stadium sites in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties — a request that could lead to negotiations with the city for an early exit from Tropicana Field.

In a letter to St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster, Rays owner Stuart Sternberg proposed an amendment to the team's contract that would allow stadium negotiations on both sides of Tampa Bay while giving the city veto power over any final deal.