Ybor City becoming an oasis of creativity
By ERNEST HOOPER
Published April 29, 2005
I must confess that I went to Roberts Communications on Thursday for one reason.
I thought it would be a good place for my son to hang out and kill some time during "Take Your Child to Work Day."
Given that my son had seen the rather static confines of the Times Tampa office, I wanted to show him something different.
When Roberts executive vice president Colleen Chappell told me her company's new Ybor City digs has a full-sized indoor basketball hoop and a computer that Matthew could use, I was sold.
What I came to discover, however, was that Roberts Communications may be part of an emerging creative industries trend for Ybor.
Roberts Communications president Deanne Roberts relocated her office from the West Shore business district to the corner of 17th Avenue and Ninth Street in March because she was searching for a creative environment. And she's not alone.
It's no surprise to find 14 art galleries or retail/galleries in the district, but Roberts has identified eight architectural firms, six advertising agencies, three interior design shops and one film production company in Ybor.
For Roberts, the location already has surpassed her creative expectations.
"It helps with recruiting, it helps with retention, and our employees are more productive because they're happier," said Roberts, whose firm does advertising, marketing and public relations.
The office's appearance fosters creativity: high ceilings, vibrant earth colors, open cubicles and, of course, the basketball hoop. Yet it's Ybor's overall assets that are attracting creative industries. The architecture, the history and the pedestrian-friendly walkways are unique appeals when compared to West Shore or downtown.
Restaurants like the Acropolis, the Columbia and Carmine's are other attractors because the last thing someone wants to do after commuting in the morning is get back in the car to go to lunch. Michael Peters put his Spark Branding House at 1616 N 17th St. after returning to his native Tampa from New York City.
"When I moved back to Tampa, I wanted to find a place with a creative vibe to it," Peters said. "I wanted a place where I could walk and grab some coffee, or walk and go grab some lunch that had character like New York City. There's not too many places in Tampa that has the gritty history that Ybor has."
Roberts, a former chairwoman of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, says the next step is drawing more creative industries to Tampa. She recently convened a meeting with business people, the Ybor City chamber and the Ybor City Development Corporation to talk about that goal.
One of the keys is taking an existing list of real estate inventory and making it more accessible. Another step would involve adding more amenities, such as a corner grocery store.
But the big key may be establishing a greater balance between the creative daytime Ybor and the bar atmosphere of nighttime Ybor. Roberts welcomes the "exhilarating" atmosphere of the clubs but said people need to realize the district has more to offer.
"We're never going to replace the image of Ybor as strictly a wild entertainment district until you replace that with something else," Roberts explained. "You have to show what does exist. The assets that are here are not getting out there because everybody has an image of it.
"The space in their minds is being held by that entertainment district, and we have to replace that space with something else."
That "something else" is the idea of Ybor being the best place in Tampa for creative industries.
I definitely agree with that assessment, especially after watching Matthew get on a computer at Roberts and produce the best piece of artwork in the history of his young life.
That's all I'm saying.
Ernest Hooper can be reached at 813 226-3406 or Hooper@sptimes.com