5 things to know about Vinik’s billion-dollar vision (Video)

By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer It’s a lot to take in: Nearly 3 million square feet of new commercial development, totaling more than $1 billion in development costs, in downtown Tampa over the next five to seven years. Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik unveiled his vision for the land he’s acquired in downtown Tampa on […]

Dream big and take this advice from Russell Wilson’s dad: ‘Why not you?’

By John Nemo I still remember the terror in my heart as I approached a woman with the most beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes I’d ever seen. For all the talk and false bravado that goes on among young males in locker rooms and elsewhere, I had zero self-confidence when it came to asking […]

​Sneak peek: Vinik previews plans for Hillsborough commissioners

By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer Tampa Bay Lightning Owner Jeff Vinik gave the Hillsborough County Commissioners a sneak peek of his billion-dollar development plans Wednesday morning. “What we’re going to show this morning is a vision plan,” Vinik told the board. “I wouldn’t call it a master plan. This is our vision of what’s going to […]

First Look: The Bourgeois Pig in Seminole Heights, opening Friday

By Eric Snider Lysa and Michael Bozel have developed The Bourgeois Pig restaurant because it never occurred to them that they couldn’t. “I’m a huge risk taker,” Lysa Bozel said, sitting in the nearly-completed interior of their house-turned-eatery on Nebraska Avenue in Seminole Heights, two miles north of the district’s trendy, if small, restaurant row. […]

Creative Recycling Systems tops most-searched TBBJ terms in 2014

By Pam Huff This story is part of Year in Review, which looks back at the biggest news, most influential newsmakers and top photos of 2014. Read more Year in Review articles here. Our coverage of lawsuits involving Creative Recycling Systems in Tampa and the company’s eventual filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy put the company […]

5 things to start the day: Florida anticipates $1B surplus, Bondi asks court to intervene on gay marriage, Riverwalk delayed

By Salem Solomon The latest revenue estimates made by Florida state economists project a surplus of nearly $1 billion. The economists increased their estimates by $622 million due to increased consumer confidence and dropping gas prices, the Tampa Bay Times said. The total budget surplus is now projected to be $958 million. Chief state economist […]

From downtown Jacksonville to downtown Tampa: One reporter’s look back at 2014

By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer This story is part of Year in Review, which looks back at the biggest news, most influential newsmakers and top photos of 2014. Read more Year in Review articles here. In most cities, a big part of covering commercial real estate is covering the urban core. I moved from the Jacksonville […]

Home builders’ index slips, but housing still on ‘slow march to normal’

By Kent Hoover Home builders’ confidence in the market for new single-family homes fell by one point in December after a four-point jump in November. The Housing Market Index slipped to 57 — still a good enough number to show that “we are in a slow march to normal,” said David Crowe, chief economist for […]