Awakening under way in downtown Tampa, consultant says

TAMPA --  An influx of condo dwellers are prodding a slumbering downtown Tampa awake, but it could take years to reach the critical mass needed to lure top retail and other amenities, said a consultant for the Tampa Downtown Partnership this morning.

"We're closer than we think," said Patrick Hill, president of HCP & Associates, a marketing and research firm. "We're starting to see exponential improvements in the quality of downtown."

The Partnership paid $35,000 for Hill's firm to conduct a survey of those who work and live downtown. The findings are meant to provide a snapshot for downtown at what the Partnership hopes is the beginning of a boom of its urban core. In two years, they will release a second snapshot.

Among 212 residents from the downtown, the Channel District, and parts of Hyde Park, Harbor Island and Davis Islands who responded to the survey, those who choose to live downtown are most likely to be male, between the ages of 25 and 34, and make up to $100,000 a year.

About half who live downtown have lived in Tampa Bay for longer than 10 years, Hill said, but about 14 percent who live downtown have lived here less than two years.

About 79 percent said being close to work, the proximity to friends and family and the ethnic and racial diversities were the biggest advantages to living downtown. The biggest disappointments were the lack of shops, the quality of restaurants and the experience of the urban lifestyle.

About 1,000 downtown employees were also surveyed. These workers were most likely to be female, between the ages of 45 and 54, and making more than $100,000. Of these, about 12.5 percent were "very interested" in living downtown.

"That number stunned me," Hill said. "Do the math. We don't have the housing for them."

More than 100 professionals attended Hill's presentation at the St. Pete Times Forum. Many liked what they heard about downtown's prospects.

"The pendulum is swinging in the right direction," said Leroy Sullivan, manager of external affairs for TECO Peoples Gas. "As the baby boomers get older and commuters get longer, downtown gets more attractive."

But others in the audience were skeptical of the some of the methods used by Hill's firm. Counting Hyde Park, Davis Islands and Harbor Island as part of downtown is misleading because those areas aren't within walking distance, said Eric Sturm of Tampa Options, an e-mail marketing company.

- Michael Van Sickler, Times staff writer