You know what they say. When one door closes, you buck the fuck up, buy two-and-a-half acres of land and build a new legacy elsewhere. And that’s exactly what’s going down in the case of iconic, 22-year-old, Ybor City concert venue, community gathering space and restaurant New World Brewery.
The music community’s long goodbye to the beloved establishment more or less started in the winter when the historic district’s Barrio Latino Commission unanimously approved a petition to demolish a non-contributing structure at 1313 E. 8th Ave so that Ybor Marti LLC — a company owned by BluePearl Veterinary Partners CEO Darryl Shaw — can refurbish the adjacent historic firehouse and build a new four-story, mixed use development that will feature three floors of apartments stacked on top of what could be office, retail or restaurant space.
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Music Issue: The long goodbye — what we'll miss about New World's Ybor oasis
“I am certainly listening to the friends of New World Brewery,” BLC Member Eric Schille said in a December 13 meeting, before adding that the weight of the scales just wasn’t going to tip towards disapproving the petitions. “You lose New World Brewery, and you gain 33 residential units — I love the place, but it’s time.”
The development — part of Shaw’s ongoing, $63.5 million, 110 parcel investment in and around the historic district — effectively signals the end of an important era of Tampa Bay music history, but New World Brewery owner Steve Bird has found a new, permanent home six miles away.
“We own it. We’re going to build a cathedral here,” Bird told CL in a phone call last Friday.
He was standing on the site of the old Matterhorn German restaurant in Tampa, just one-and-half miles away from Seminole Heights’ Mermaid Tavern and less than a mile from the historic Springs Theatre. Bird recently secured the two-and-a-half acres of property near I-275 and has grand plans for the 6,000 square-foot property that more recently housed Supa D’s Tropical Bar and Grill and Tropix Nightclub. There is a lot of parking, and a lot of work to do before the place eventually opens.
“The shell is good, it was the Matterhorn, so the bones are strong,” Bird said. He says there will eventually be indoor and outdoor stages, a restaurant, and two biergartens. There’s no timetable on an opening, but Bird — along with family, friends and employees — has been on site non-stop working at the new build out.
“It’s a lot of work, but the more I do the more encouraged I am,” he said, adding that he looked at dozens of spaces and got serious about two or three during the search for a new home. “It’ll be New World on steroids.”
In the meantime, more than a dozen promoters, magazines and community players who’ve helped build New World’s Ybor City legacy have teamed up to stage one last show on September 23.
Update: The show will now have a $10 cover, with all proceeds going towards Hurricane Irma relief.
Close to 20 Bay area bands — including Zillionaire, Will Quinlan, Career, Mike Mass, Auto! Automatic!! plus a new project featuring Shawn Kyle, Geri X, Billy Summer and Priscilla Loren — will take to two stages for the free show.
All told, it stands to be a bittersweet ending to one of the most important places that the Tampa Bay area has ever been able to call its own.
"The lineup is a reflection of the Central Florida music scene's spirit, taste, communal harmony and soul," Brokenmold Entertainment's Joe D'Acunto told CL in a message. The longtime Bay area promoter booked his first show at New World in 1999, and he says organizers — including New Granada Presents, Aestheticized, Moon Goddess, Endoxa and more — had a great game plan going into planning the last show. "Everyone we asked [to play] was down for whatever, so it came together effortlessly."
See a full lineup, and get more information on the show via local.cltampa.com.
This article appears in Jul 27 – Aug 3, 2017.