Forty years after its founding, the downtown Tampa CRA is finally funding the arts

Four decades after its founding, Tampa’s downtown CRA is finally walking the walk when it comes to its professed love for the arts. The topic of arts as a catalyst for investment will surely come up this month at the 2025 State of Tampa’s Downtown Forum happening Tuesday, May 20.

But there were dark days. In the ‘90s, the east side of downtown—now known as the Channel District and Water Street—was deserted parking lots and derelict warehouses.

Then the Florida Aquarium provided a jolt of life and activated that area, and provided the impetus for its renaming. Recent commitments to the restoration of Tampa Union Station (and, hopefully, the Jackson House) will similarly jazz their parts of our central business district.
Since 1983, when the first Community Investment Act (CRA) was established for downtown Tampa, the urban core has benefited from the tax funds generated in the area being reinvested in downtown.

Although getting the CRA designation required an official finding of “slum and blight”, not very flattering, this allowed the taxes from downtown to be spent only on infrastructure specifically in there, like the expansion of the Tampa Convention Center, streetscape, and lighting systems, rather than placed in the city’s general coffers.

Traditionally, the members of the CRA Board, who also serve as Tampa City Council members, have been pretty passive and responded to requests from developers for infrastructure which supports developers’ needs instead of initiating projects themselves.

Painfully, everything ground to a halt when Covid shut down venues like Tampa Theatre, Straz Center and Tampa Museum of Art—and put the brakes on their private fundraising efforts.

That’s changed as of late. Tampa’s core has major residential development that is taking off, so the tax revenues from downtown are up. And now, there’s lots of money headed for the arts.

In 2022, the CRA Board realized that although downtown had many new residential buildings it needed additional activation and life, so rather than subsidizing developers, they decided to invest in cultural amenities, to the tune of $64 million through 2033.

Tampa City Councilman Bill Carlson, a member of the CRA Board, made a compelling case for using the CRA revenues to help complete the major cultural institutions’ master plans which had all been temporarily stymied by Covid and politics.

In the early-90’s Carlson was a consultant to the Singapore government, connecting the arts to the technology sector. By 1995, he consulted with the City of St. Pete where he helped them build the arts community and helped them promote St. Pete as an arts destination worldwide.

Later, as a founding member of the St Pete Economic Development Council, he helped build innovation and creativity in St. Petersburg by connecting arts to technology companies. When he became a Tampa City Council member in 2019, Carlson developed a vision to not only fully activate Tampa’s downtown, but also fuel the tech and innovation sectors through reinvigorating the arts.

He also co-founded the Tampa Arts Alliance along with Neil Gobioff and Michele Smith, which for three years has been building a grassroots art movement in Tampa. Along with Tempus Projects founder Tracy Midulla and Hillsborough Community College’s Amanda Poss, Carlson founded Ybor City Ad Hoc Arts Group to connect arts to industry.

Local arts advocates were further bolstered by the results of the St. Pete Comprehensive Arts Strategy report which clearly linked the public investment in these nonprofit arts organizations and their ability to attract both commercial and residential redevelopment in the urban core as well as boosting tourism.

Carlson set about applying the strategy to Tampa’s situation. First he met with the leadership, both staff and board members from arts and cultural groups and questioned them about their plans.

Tampa Theatre CEO John Bell recently told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that Carlson asked him what his vision was for the theater’s future.

“Bill challenged me and my board to think expansively about our historic theatre and how its programming could grow if we properly preserved and built out this extraordinary landmark,” he explained.

In 2023, $14 million requested by the Tampa Theatre Board was approved by the CRA Board, and coupled with an additional $14 million raised by the theater. The funds are enabling the full restoration of the historic auditorium. The overhaul will modernize the theater’s infrastructure, and transform underutilized spaces to expand the Theatre’s education program and public amenities.

At the same time, the Straz Center had eyed a $100 million expansion for almost two decades. While the bulk of those funds were raised from the private sector, $25 million invested by the CRA Board got the construction going. Despite being wholly owned by the city, private donations are funding 75% of the venue’s expansion.

The massive influx of CRA funds for cultural institutions is not without its critics.

Many outside of the downtown CRA have long clamored about how CRA funds can only be spent in designated areas.

In 2020—arguing that CRA money was being used to subsidize developers rather than paving roads—even Carlson himself made a motion to cap or sunset the downtown and Channel District CRAs “That proposal failed, so I shifted to promoting the arts in order to activate downtown and build the innovation economy,” the councilman told CL.

Despite the fact that the city actually owns the Straz property, former Tampa City Councilman John Dingfelder—who was the council rep for the Straz at the time—told CL that members of Mayor Jane Castor’s administration (not the mayor herself) pushed back on his initial conversations to throw so much CRA money at the Straz center renovations. 

In the end, Councilman Luis Viera was the only councilmember to vote against the funding.

Dingfelder told CL, “With strong support from Councilman Carlson, I made the successful motion and obtained a majority of Council to support and commit the $25 million that kickstarted the $100 million dollar capital campaign.”

“Bill Carlson led the way in securing our CRA Board funding” Judy Lisi, who served as Straz CEO from 1992-2023, told CL. “He truly understands the connection between the health of our arts and the strength of our economy, as well as our community!”

Harry Cohen, the Hillsborough County Commission representative on the Straz board was central in getting $4.5 million for the expansion from the county, which had previously balked at helping support a city-owned facility.

This project, which broke ground in April, includes a renovation of Straz Center’s Patel Conservatory and further opens the performing arts center to the Tampa River walk by building a new restaurant, café, bar, terrace, and expanded outdoor stage.

Construction for the Straz Center’s biggest renovation and expansion effort is set to conclude the beginning of 2027.

Across Cass Street, Michael Tomor, President of the Tampa Museum of Art, explained that the additional investment by the CRA Board of $24 million in the museum will allow construction at his building to begin more quickly.

The museum knows the expansion will stimulate private sector investments and business activity consistent with the adopted land use and development plans for downtown, which in part call for outdoor dining and expanded retail near Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park. Even the unusable grass slope will be enhanced.

Seeing so much CRA money go to TMA, Straz and Tampa Theatre wasn’t easy for Dan Traugott, Chair of the Downtown CRA Advisory Committee. Not because the committee didn’t love having them in the neighborhood, but because it considered the venue’s regional amenities, rather than a neighborhood-focused benefit.

“We were persuaded by the Straz’s promise of new, publicly accessible spaces, without having to buy a ticket to a show, a free amenity and a wonderful complement to the Riverwalk,” Traugott told CL

Michele Smith, now Executive Director of the Tampa Arts Alliance said the arts fuel growth as part of an economic ecosystem.

“When completed, these arts projects will be major economic engines,” she said, “and define downtown as a creative and innovative hub for everyone in the region to enjoy.”

CORRECTION 05/19/25 1:40 p.m. Tampa Mayor Jane Castor did not oppose funding the Straz Center renovations with CRA money, but Councilman John Dingfelder did say that members of her administration did initially push back against the total sum he planned to motion for from the dais.

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This article appears in May 8-14, 2025.