Writer: Ryan Gandolfo
Regional Review is a year-end series from Capital Analytics that looks at key developments throughout the year and sets the stage for what’s to come in the near future.
3 min read December 2023 — While 2023 saw continued interest rate hikes through the first three quarters, Tampa Bay’s economy remained strong with several major developments expected to transform the region for decades to come.
There has been a series of wins across Florida’s largest open-water estuary, including the planned redevelopment of Tropicana Field and the Historic Gas Plant community. A public-private partnership was formed in September 2023 between the city of St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, the Hines Historic Gas Plant Partnership, and the Tampa Bay Rays to redevelop the 86-acre site and ensure the MLB franchise Rays stay in town. It will be “the largest development project in Tampa Bay history,” with a $6 billion investment over a 20-year period.
“With these partnerships, I’m very optimistic we’ll have a great agreement to guide the development of these 86 acres. That includes the additional 70 acres for office and multi-use spaces,” city of St. Petersburg Mayor Kenneth Welch told Invest: earlier this year.
Redevelopment opportunities have surfaced as the area continues to see more visitors and incoming residents. In FY23, Hillsborough County drew over 26.7 million visitors and recorded nearly $1 billion in taxable hotel revenue. The city will also round out the year hosting the 2023 NCAA Division I women’s volleyball championship semifinals and finals at the Amalie Arena, which should provide an economic boost for Tampa.
But where the Tampa Bay region has seen a significant boom is in manufacturing, where the area’s 74,000 total jobs in the sector account for a fifth of Florida’s manufacturing workforce. In October, local nonprofit AmSkills opened a new manufacturing center in Pasco County to help provide more workforce training and apprenticeships for the industry in the region. Earlier this year, the University of South Florida (USF) and Truist Foundation also announced a $684,000 grant to develop a manufacturing certificate program in East Tampa, with the aim of improving economic mobility in the area while addressing this skilled labor shortage as AmSkills cites that 2.1 million manufacturing jobs are expected to be unfilled by 2030.
Another sector seeing substantial investment is healthcare, as Tampa General Hospital is forming the Medical and Research District in downtown Tampa, which is anticipated to create and support 41,500 jobs annually. “The whole idea of the district is to create an ecosystem in the city that is academic and research-oriented pertaining to the delivery of healthcare. By creating this ecosystem, and a concentration of services in this tight geographic area, we can attract interesting and talented people in biotech, clinical research, venture capital and private equity,” John Couris, president and CEO of Tampa General Hospital, told Invest:.
As more jobs are created in the area though, the housing market has been considered a pain point, with the Tampa Bay market ranking among the most overvalued markets in the United States. According to a 2023 study from Florida Atlantic University, Tampa homebuyers, on average, paid a 42.81% premium for a home — the third highest in the country.
Transportation has also been a sore subject for Tampa Bay, but the city of Tampa recently received $1.75 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation to form the Regional Infrastructure Accelerator office with the aim of exploring more funding opportunities. This comes after Tampa announced its MOVES plan in August, which looks to commit $2 billion on infrastructure improvements and transportation safety by 2050.
Moving forward into 2024, Tampa Bay’s increasingly diversified economy should allow for further job creation while public and private stakeholders address the infrastructure needs that come into play with a city on the move.
