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Meaghan Habuda
Florida Cane will takeover the Ybor corner space formerly home to Row Boat.
Tampa City Council's craft distillery-specific zoning changes have prompted the Brandon-based
Florida Cane Distillery
to relocate.
With a tentative opening date of March 16, the 4-year-old distillery and tasting room at 501 S. Falkenburg Road will move to Ybor City's historic El Encanto Building on the corner of 15th Street and Eighth Avenue. In a news release, co-founder Pat O'Brien said Florida Cane scoped out potential sites around the Tampa area for more than a year.
"The Ybor location will allow us to open our doors full-time for tours and tastings, expand our production capacity, enable us to continue to launch new brands, and continue to experiment with new spirits," according to O'Brien.
Neighbors with Cigar City Cider and Mead and the soon-to-open Rock Brothers Brewing, Florida Cane is set to offer regular hours for bottle and gift shop sales, distilling classes and tours. The Brandon location will operate until the end of next month.
Co-founder Lee Nelson said he's excited for the distillery, known for using Hillsborough County and state resources in its products, to draw inspiration from Ybor's historic elements, as well as its artists and other creatives.
"When we embed our distillery into a creative community, particularly one that is surrounded by great bars and restaurants," Nelson said, "we'll be able to get immediate feedback on our ideas and new products so we can innovate quickly."
