A high-concept development would capitalize on Tampa's winning reputation and training-friendly weather.
By SCOTT BARANCIK
Published June 16, 2004
TAMPA - In the shadow of Legends Field and Raymond James Stadium, Greg Neal envisions the rough equivalent of an Olympic Village.
The Tampa Sports Centre would offer professional and amateur athletes an array of services, including sports psychology, rehabilitation and training facilities, nutritional counseling, career management, apparel and a spa.
On-campus television and radio studios would broadcast interviews with visiting athletes, who would reside steps away at the Centre's hotel or condominiums.
For those seeking a spiritual workout, the 15-acre, 1.2-million-square-foot campus would include a chapel.
"There's nothing like it in any metropolitan market in North America," said Neal, managing partner of Keystone Ventures LLC in Tampa.
Though Neal said it was too early to cite names, he said a variety of sports teams, leagues, trainers, hotel chains, retailers and investors have expressed interest or made commitments to his proposed $240-million development. Several Christian organizations are interested in managing the complex's counseling, career management and broadcast operations. Neal and colleagues briefed Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio on the project idea this spring.
Many high-concept real estate developments don't pan out, of course. For a reminder, one need travel only a few miles south from the proposed site to another $240-million, 1.2-million-square-foot project: Tampa Bay 1. Developers of that office/retail/residential development have been promising to break ground there since at least 2001, after spending millions of dollars on land acquisition and infrastructure.
But Neal said the Tampa Sports Centre would capitalize on the bay area's weather as well as its growing reputation as a first-rate sports town. Local teams recently won the Stanley Cup and Super Bowl. Out-of-town athletes are building homes here for the off-season. Located at the northwest corner of N Dale Mabry Highway and W Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, the center would sit across the street from Legends Field and catty-corner from Raymond James Stadium.
Professional athletes needn't be the only customers. Minor league and college teams might send players to the center for training or evaluation. Triathletes and competitive amateurs could avail themselves of the services. Even weekend golf or tennis players with lots of disposable income might come, said Neal, whose other projects include Safari Ventures, a Tampa travel company, and the construction of motorsports complexes.
Ralph Ghioto III has a great deal of faith in Neal.
About a year ago, Ghioto and his father hired Neal to come up with the "highest and best use" for the land beneath their Tampa car dealership, which they plan to move to cheaper real estate. Neal and colleagues returned with a proposal to create the Tampa Sports Centre. Now, Keystone Ventures is buying the Ghiotos' roughly 10-acre property, home to Century Buick Isuzu Kia, in installments. Both parties declined to name the price.
"If the project ends up being what it is conceptualized to be now," Ghioto said, "it is something our family could be proud of."
