Exclusive: Cru Cellars is coming to Westshore Marina District
Cru Cellars will bring its wine selection and cheese and charcuterie boards to the Westshore Marina District.
The South Tampa wine shop and restaurant has signed a lease for 2,400 square feet in the 52-acre mixed-use district at Westshore and Gandy boulevards, developer BTI Partners said Wednesday.
Cru, which has locations in South Tampa and Heights Public Market within Armature Works, will serve wine by the glass, cocktails, from-scratch dishes and cheese and charcuterie boards. It will also sell bottles of small production wines from around the globe and offer a lunch menu. Grab-and-go pastries and a coffee menu are also planned.
“Every neighborhood deserves a local respite where locals can escape and center themselves over good company, great atmosphere, and serious food and wine,” Jennifer Bingham, who owns Cru with her husband, Torrey, said in a statement. “I’m excited to bring a neighborhood spot to the Westshore area.”
Brian Bern, senior director at Franklin Street in Tampa, represented Cru in the transaction.
Cru joins other restaurants and retailers that have recently committed to the Westshore Marina District: Duckweed Urban Grocer will have a presence there, as will Crave Spa, Salon Color Bar, DRNK coffee + tea and QWENCH juice bar.
“The addition of Cru Cellars underscores our strategy of bringing local retailers to Westshore Marina District to provide current and future residents a unique upscale retail experience,” Britney Mroczkowski, vice president of retail development with BTI Partners, said in a statement. “We expect Cru Cellars to quickly become a neighborhood hotspot and complement the growing South Tampa residential area.”
Fort Lauderdale-based BTI Partners took title the to the 52-acre development in 2014 and has been planning a mixed-use project that will bring new retail and residential units to an untapped corner of the South Tampa market. At full buildout, it will include more than 1,700 residential units and a walkable, urban-style retail village. A waterfront restaurant is also in the works.
Developers Related Group and Bainbridge have recently opened market-rate apartments in the district, and homebuilder WCI is under construction on luxury townhouses.
Later this year, BTI will begin construction on Marina Pointe, which includes the three luxury condo towers it is planning in the district. Forty of the 120 units have been pre-sold, BTI said. Prices range from the $700,000s to $2 million.
“The Westshore Marina District has seen a residential construction boom recently, boosting demand for a mixed-use environment with specialty retail stores,” Noah Breakstone, CEO of BTI Partners, said in a statement.