Fernando Noriega Jr. was Tampa's longtime point man for housing and economic development.
By MICHAEL CANNING
Published May 14, 2004
Fernando Noriega had a good excuse for missing the July 2002 dedication of his namesake parking garage in Ybor City. He was in the hospital, recovering from a cerebral hemorrhage and brain surgery.
"I think that's why they named the garage after me," he said laughing.
Gallows humor aside, being Tampa's point man for housing and economic development for more than two decades probably had more to do with it. Being a longtime friend of former Mayor Dick Greco didn't hurt either.
Noriega was born in 1934 to a Cuban mother and Spanish father who worked as cigar workers in Ybor City. He attended Orange Grove Elementary, George Washington Middle and Jefferson High schools and studied education at the University of Tampa. Back then he didn't have a car and often hitched a ride with Greco, his college mate.
Noriega worked at Palace jewelry and men's wear in Ybor City until 1959, when it closed. He partnered with the Palace's former owner Mark Shine to open Kirby's Men's Wear stores on S Dale Mabry Highway and in Temple Terrace. Noriega managed the Temple Terrace store until it closed in 1971.
In need of a job, Noriega became an estimator for the city's housing department earning $1.95 an hour. His buddy Greco had become mayor, but Noriega intended to return to college in a few months to complete his education degree.
One thing led to another and he stayed, he said. He was put in charge of neighborhood development for the city in 1973 and kept the job under various titles and mayors for the next 22 years. Along the way, business and community services fell under his watch.
In 1995, when Greco was re-elected mayor, Noriega became the city's administrator of business development. Although Greco got most of the credit, Noriega was the one who put together many of the city's biggest development deals.
Among them: the Tampa Waterside Marriott, Centro Ybor and Kforce's headquarters and the Camden Apartments in Ybor City. He also was a key player in purchasing the old SunTrust bank building for the Tampa Police Department headquarters and acquiring land for the Stetson University College of Law.
Noriega helped broker one other project - the Palm Avenue parking garage, a four-deck, 1,200-space garage at Palm Avenue and 13th Street in Ybor City paid for by the city, state and Hillsborough Community College. Greco spearheaded the effort to have it named after Noriega.
When term limits ended Greco's mayoral run in 2003, Noriega retired. Now a 70-year-old grandfather of three, he stays active with St. Lawrence Catholic Church, the Knights of the Krewe of Sant'Yago and lunching with friends.
