Florida is off to a strong start with a 1.91% increase in home values for the first quarter of this year. Typically, the first and fourth quarters are the two slowest for home value appreciation. If you were to project out a 1.91% home value appreciation for the remaining three quarters that would be a 7.64% appreciation for 2019. My projection at the beginning of the year was home value appreciation for the Tampa Bay market of between 5.5% and 7.0%. The market is currently outperforming my expectations. I predict Tampa Bay will finish the year between 6.75%-8%. If you look at 2018, the total appreciation for Florida was 8.53% which was the second highest on the East Coast behind Washington DC. Bottom line the Florida and Tampa Bay markets are continuing to see healthy appreciation and will do so throughout the remainder of 2019.

When the first phase of Sparkman Wharf opened in late November, its recreational lawn, craft biergarten and dining garden brought a new vibrancy to the property once known as Channelside Bay Plaza.

Now, construction is underway on the next phase of renovations to the plaza — changes that will transform not only the property itself, but that entire corner of downtown Tampa, with 180,000 square feet of loft-style office space and more than 60,000 square feet of new storefronts.

The former Channelside Bay Plaza struggled for years to attract and retain both customers and commercial tenants. This iteration, its developer hopes, will be able to sustain restaurants and retailers by becoming a destination for both residents and tourists. The office space provides a built-in customer base for restaurants and retailers in the wharf, especially on weekdays when foot traffic can be slow.

The office space in the wharf is priced in the mid to upper $40s per square foot for all-inclusive rent. That's well above the average asking lease rates in downtown Tampa today. It's really called 'creative Class A' office. It's one of the most unique office offerings in the U.S. right now.

The new facades will be white with gray accents and exposed black steel. The overhaul also includes second-floor outdoor terraces on both the north and south sides of the property — totaling 10,000 square feet of outdoor terrace space, which will be decked out with trellises and canopies.

Craig’s Take:
The exciting Water Street project is full steam ahead with the start of the transformation of the existing commercial space (formerly Channelside Bay Plaza) to the ground breaking of 815 Water Street dual-tower building and future home to Channelside’s first high-end organic grocery store. The Tampa Edition is also coming along at a rapid pace. The Tampa Edition will be Tampa Bay’s first five-star hotel. This incredible vision is becoming a reality. Cranes can be seen throughout Channelside and Downtown. If you haven’t yet checked it out, I encourage you to do so before the skyline changes for good. If you are anything like me, you will enjoy seeing the before, during and after. Stay tuned for more updates on Tampa’s most exciting new development.

The $500 million Midtown Tampa development is getting the Tampa Bay area's first True Food Kitchen, a health-conscious restaurant co-founded by Dr. Andrew Weil, known for combining traditional and alternative approaches to medicine, and backed by an investment from Oprah Winfrey.

True Food Kitchen has a seasonal menu that the company says is built on an anti-inflammatory diet emphasizing wholesome, simple ingredients, nutrient-dense staples, responsibly sourced proteins and little-known superfoods. The menu's signature dishes include an ancient grains bowl, grass-fed steak tacos and a vegetarian "inside-out" quinoa burger.

Construction on Midtown Tampa's first phase is scheduled to begin soon. The 5,000-square-foot True Food Kitchen will include an outdoor covered patio and is expected to open on Himes Avenue in early 2021

“True Food Kitchen is an example of how Midtown Tampa will showcase restaurants new to Tampa Bay and elevate the dining and entertainment options in the region,” Haines said. In February, he told the Tampa Bay Times that he expects Midtown Tampa's mix of office, hotel, retail and multi-family residential to include stores and restaurants that offer a distinctive enough experience to draw customers from Sarasota.

Craig’s Take:
Tampa will be True Food Kitchen's second location on the West Coast of Florida. The first being Naples. True Food Kitchen choosing Mid-Town Tampa as its location is an indication of how desirable this location is for restaurateurs. Mid-Town Tampa is an important location as it will be the bridge that ties West Shore, West Tampa and South Tampa together. Another important aspect is that it will create another walkable area in Tampa.

The Dalí’s proposed capital project expansion plan has three key components: the mediated exhibitions or as it is calling Digital Dalí, (10,000 square feet); community and education spaces (10,000 square feet), and a new parking garage (150,000 square feet). 

The Dalí already has "Gala Contemplating You" and "Dreams of Dalí."

However, the museum wants more multi-sensory, highly engaging digital experiences.

"In order to capture the attention of new generations raised in the digital realm, we will advance our mission by offering audiences digital entry into his work and the sublimity of painting. ... In addition to these hands-on digital experiences, the new gallery will showcase more of Dalí’s life through additional film, photography and contextual reference material to convey, vividly, the artist’s life — showing Dalí as a trailblazer, unparalleled talent and a gifted provocateur who continues to inspire, fascinate and confound millions," the museum wrote in its application to the county.

There are also plans to have a hologram of Dalí himself speaking with visitors.

Having new space solely for digital and AR experiences will allow the museum to accommodate over 50 percent more visitors, the Dalí says.

Meanwhile, its plans for the 150,000-square-foot parking garage show it would also be modern. Renderings show the garage potentially having a solar array system that would generate electric and collect rainwater, which itself would cost $3 million. Living green walls would climb the structure and a glass walkway would connect visitors into the museum.

The need for the parking garage is to handle the large and growing number of visitors the museum sees. It would increase the parking from 130 to 410 spaces.

The start date for the proposed expansion is March 2020 with the parking garage expected to be finished by February 2021 and the other spaces to be complete by 2022.