Downtown Tampa's Park & Rec location is now closed

Park & Rec, a downtown Tampa bar and restaurant that was the subject of a contentious 2020 lawsuit, has closed for good.

The bar was operated by parent company Hunger Thirst Group, which also owns other Tampa Bay concepts like No Vacancy, Lost & Found, Avenue, Good Fortune, and others.

The company's founder and CEO Stephen Schrutt took to social media late Thursday night to announce the closure. "I’m glad we gave the Tampa location a good run, but looking back, it wasn’t the right fit for the concept," said Schrutt.

The post goes on to say that the Tampa location, at 290 S. Meridian St., has been sold and is closed effective immediately. Schrutt also adds that the company's six other concepts remain open.

When asked who purchased Park & Rec, a representative with Hunger Thirst told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that it was "a group in Gainesville." No other details of the sale were revealed.

Park & Rec opened back in October of 2019 on the ground floor of a 30-story downtown Tampa condominium. Since its launch, the concept was at the center of a battle  with angry upstairs neighbors. In January 2020, the condo association sued the business over its use of the buildings' shared spaces and the use of outdoor lights and speakers, among other things.

In his Thursday night post, Schrutt did not directly mention the lawsuit but did allude to the company's ongoing issues with the condominium.

"The location in a residential condo tower and opening right before the pandemic started made it very challenging to operate." said Schrutt. "For now, I look forward to focusing on St. Petersburg and the consistent growth we’ve had, as we work hard to deliver more fun concepts in the future."