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The delay will force retailers to miss the holiday season and gives a head-start to two competing projects, Centro Ybor in Tampa and BayWalk in St. Petersburg.
By KYLE PARKS
© St. Petersburg Times, published November 18, 2000
TAMPA -- The Shops at Channelside won't be anyone's holiday shopping destination this year.
The often-delayed movie/restaurant/retail complex near the Florida Aquarium in Tampa won't be open in December, as its developers promised last month. Now, they say at least part of the project will open Jan. 12.
The complex's Regal theaters are set to open on that date, as are several restaurants, including Charley's Crab and Joffrey's. But visitors probably won't find many retailers open until later in January, with the developers hoping they'll be ready for the Super Bowl on Jan. 28.
This setback is another in a series for the $49-million project, which struggled to land tenants and will face the challenge of drawing people to a relatively sleepy part of downtown.
And it leads to more questions about the project from area residents who have watched two competing projects, Centro Ybor in Tampa and BayWalk in St. Petersburg, open to much fanfare.
But John Twomey, vice president for the Hogan Group development company, says naysayers shouldn't infer anything from the delay. It stems from a decision by Channelside's owner to take control of the movie theaters from Regal Cinemas Inc., which is pondering bankruptcy protection. Orix Real Estate Equity Corp. will own the 10-screen theater complex, but Regal will operate it.
"Our retailers and restaurants were waiting for an opening date for the movies so they could move ahead," Twomey said. "And with the change in ownership of the movies, that slowed everything down."
The delay will hurt the retailers, who would have gotten a major boost from the holiday season, and it gives the competing Centro Ybor complex an even bigger head start.
Centro Ybor opened Oct. 5 a mile away from Channelside, though only about 60 percent of Centro's tenants are now open. It expects to have almost all its restaurants and stores open by the end of January.
"The longer we have to get established before Channelside opens, the better off we are," said Jay Miller, executive vice president of Steiner and Associates, Centro's developer. "Still, one month isn't going to make that much of a difference one way or another."
Even though Channelside now has an official opening date, it isn't planning a grand opening. The BayWalk project in St. Petersburg, which opens this weekend, also has avoided such a celebration because many of its stores and restaurants aren't yet open.
"We want to wait to have everything open before we do a big splash," Twomey said. "We plan to do that in the spring as part of a promotion for the whole Channelside area."
Even though the opening date has been pushed back again, Twomey prefers to focus on how he can see the finish line for a project that's been in the works for five years.
"Yes, we have an opening date," he said. "Hallelujah."