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Port likely to spend $1-billion

Facilities upgrades may go that high, a consultant says.

By STEVE HUETTEL, Times Staff Writer
Published November 30, 2007

TAMPA - The Tampa Port Authority and maritime businesses can expect to pump well over $1-billion into facilities at Tampa's port over the next 20 years, a consultant developing the port's master plan said Thursday.

The port should enjoy continued growth, said Jim Brennan of the consulting firm Norbridge, if the public agency and private businesses make capital investments of $1-billion to $1.5-billion through 2027. That doesn't include contingency funds, which typically add 30 percent to construction costs.

Brennan presented an overview of draft master and strategic plans Thursday to about 70 people, mostly from port-related businesses.

The port will profit from growth in the Interstate 4 corridor that runs across Central Florida, he said, as demand increases for gasoline, construction materials and consumer goods shipped into Tampa.

The port authority will need to spend $850-million to $950-million to build berths and cargo terminals and buy additional land, the report suggests. Within 20 years, companies operating petroleum terminals will likely consider relocating from Ybor Channel, Port Tampa and Rattlesnake Point as developers offer big bucks to build residences there, said Brennan.

That didn't make sense to Jonathan Whitworth, an executive with oil shipper Overseas Shipholding Group. Why, he asked, go through a costly move or get out of the business when Norbridge projected strong demand for gasoline and other fuels in the region?

Port commissioner Joe Hartley, former president of Tampa Bay Shipbuilding Repair Co., was surprised he didn't hear anything in the presentation about the port's three shipyards, including one looking for a new home at the port.

"I'm concerned there wasn't any mention of shipyards or the relocation of those jobs," he said.

Norbridge will add feedback from port businesses into the draft plans, as well as direction from port authority board members during a Dec. 10 workshop before wrapping up its work by year's end, Brennan said.

Agency staff should finish the final versions in January, said port director Richard Wainio.

Steve Huettel can be reached at huettel@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3384.

[Last modified November 29, 2007, 23:04:40]