Tampa’s Crab Devil art compound won’t open, and will put its Ybor Heights property up for sale

Looking at plans for, and previewing, Ybor Heights Crab Devil immersive art experience was like stepping into a dream. And for now, that’s all it will be.

After three-and-a-half-years of work, Crab Devil says that its art compound won’t actually ever open—and that the property at 3800 N Nebraska Ave. will actually go up for sale.

Devon Brady, Crab Devil co-founder and CEO, and artist at his LiveWork Studios, told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that the project—which also included the Penninsilarium featuring Florida-centric oddities—has been struggling since October. He and his cohorts have spent the months since working to raise the capital needed to move Crab Devil forward, but Brady said, “these efforts have ultimately failed.”

He spent yesterday delivering the bad news to 55 artists whose work—from large scale pieces to smaller items for display in the Cabinet of Curiosities— was already installed or set to live at Crab Devil. The collective is working to either return the work or help them sell the work to help settle the debts. Brady would not share an exact figure, but said that around $5 million had already been spent on Crab Devil, which recently received city funds for facade improvements.

“I think most artists would rather see their work displayed, than returned to them, but the problem is it’s all highly specialized stuff, and there’s a limited market for it,” Brady told CL. “So we’ve got several irons in the fire that we’re working on. Places that the world could go, but it’s going to be on a case by case basis.”

Deviant Libation, the brewery from award-winning brewer Tim Ogden, opened in January on the Crab Devil property. Brady said Crab Devil is doing everything it can to ensure that Deviant Libation can remain and continue to thrive in their space.

Today, Ogden told CL that he 100% plans on staying open to serve the community. “Our lease is viable, and we’re really looking forward to making beer and growing this business that I’ve been working my entire career to get to,” he added.

In a statement, Brady said that Crab Devil was not immune to many of the issues that have plagued pre-pandemic-born projects—supply chain, inflation, staffing, included.

“We faced ongoing delays, ongoing changes and revisions to our permit, as well as persistent and, ultimately devastating, interest rate increases,” he added. “These setbacks, combined with our recent fundraising difficulties, have simply made the situation untenable for us.”

“The biggest letdown for me was that I think there’s a sense among the art community that this is what needs to happen in Tampa, but I don’t think that that has necessarily made it through to the business community,” Brady told CL.

Over the last three-years, Crab Devil has acquainted itself with the community by hosting immersive art pop-ups at Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, Gasparilla Music Festival, and even on site for concerts and fundraisers. There was even an art Airbnb upstairs.

If Crab Devil could’ve opened, it could’ve started to take in money and pay down its debt. “That inability to raise equity dollars in the end is what killed us,” he said.

For now, Brady said that the Crab Devil collective is heartbroken.

“This project has been our life’s work for several years, and we have done absolutely everything we could do to see it succeed. Everyone we ever pitched said, ‘This is exactly what Tampa needs,’” he said. “We still believe that, and we’re crushed that we couldn’t make it happen for you and for this city. We truly appreciate all that you have done for us.”

This is a developing post.

Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.

Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed

This article appears in Jul 6-12, 2023.