Homebuilder buys land at Westshore Marina District

Premier homebuilder WCI Communities has purchased 2.35 acres for $2.5
million as part of a $14.5 million, two-phase land deal in the Westshore Marina
District, a walkable planned community off Westshore Boulevard south of Gandy
Boulevard.

The developer, Fort Lauderdale-based BTI Partners, announced the land deal
with WCI, which plans to build 35 three-story townhouses in the 52-acre master
planned community. WCI also has agreed to purchase a second, 9.5 acre
waterfront site, with a closing anticipated by early 2018, BTI Partners announced.
WCI declined to provide details.

“It [Westshore Marina District] is adjacent to some of the best housing and
residential areas of Tampa,” says Beck Daniel, BTI Partners’ Executive VP of
Development.

Although land in the area has historically been industrial, it’s not regarded as
such now. “We haven’t really looked at it as an industrial area. We’ve just looked
at it as ripe for redevelopment,” Daniel says.

Earlier plans to develop the property didn’t materialize because of the economic
downturn.

BTI Partners addresses neighborhood issues like lack of usable waterfront,
walkability, and traffic in its development plan, Daniel says.
The community, designed to transform the waterfront, may include up to 1,750
residential units, a 200-room hotel, retail, restaurants and office space, 185 to
240 marina slips and a 1.5 mile-waterfront park. The 14-acre marina basin will be
the largest in the area.

“We like the Tampa market,” says Daniel. “We’re all over the state. We try and
stick to the big metros.”

Earlier this year, BTI Partners sold eight acres in the development to Miamibased
Related Group, which also is building an eight-story apartment complex on
the site of the former Tampa Tribune building at 202 S. Parker St.
Twenty acres in the Westshore Marina District remain unspoken for. “We try not
to talk too much about the future phases until we get there,” Daniel says. “We’re
hoping to announce some retail parcels soon.”

BTI Partners proceeding with the infrastructure.“By the end of this year, we’ll
have an entry road coming into the project,” he asserts. “We’re excited because
everything seems to be moving forward without a hitch.