The downtown development comes two years after the nonprofit secured a site in Ybor City meant to host affordable artist housing developed by Artspace, the nation’s leading nonprofit developer of arts facilities.
The alliance’s agreement with Artspace called for the group to find the land and raise $750,000.
Last Tuesday, Tampa Arts Alliance Executive Director Michele Smith told CL that the 23,000 square-feet of land donated by a local developer is still there and theirs—and that much of the space around 1610 E 3rd Ave. has seen approximately $187 million of investment thrown at it since then.
“We delivered two and a half million dollars worth of land that Darryl Shaw has committed,” she said. “And we delivered $200,000 in cash and another $550,000 in contracts.”
Smith said that $50,000 of the contracts comes from Hillsborough County, while $500,000 will come from the City of Tampa. Both the county and city will have to finalize the agreements, which Smith said have already been approved ahead of additional readings.
She added that once ArtSpace projects delivers what they need to deliver to complete those contracts, they get that money and can then apply for housing credits from the federal government.
“We’ve delivered everything we said we were going to deliver the project, and that’s a good position,” Smith said.
That leaves her in a position to look ahead, but as Smith works towards making Tampa Arts Alliance’s new downtown home a reality, she wants local artists to remember why the organization exists.
“We are really putting forth some work to get them seen and get them known,” she said. “Because we have so much talent here.”
Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.
Follow us: Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | BlueSky
This article appears in Jul 10-16, 2025.