West Tampa's biggest housing project tops out at Rome Yards
Crews placed the final beam on an 11-story tower that will bring 234 mostly affordable apartments to a former city maintenance yard — the opening phase of a nearly 1,000-unit redevelopment.
Tampa marked a turning point in one of its largest affordable-housing efforts last week, as the city and developer Related Urban celebrated the “topping out” of Gallery at Rome Yards — the placement of the last structural beam atop a new 11-story residential tower in the West River neighborhood, the city announced.
The tower, at 2309 N. Rome Ave., is the first phase of the broader Rome Yards redevelopment, which is converting an 18-acre former municipal maintenance yard between Rome Avenue and the Hillsborough River into a mixed-income neighborhood. This phase will deliver 234 apartments — 60 one-bedroom, 152 two-bedroom and 22 three-bedroom units — with the large majority set aside for affordable and workforce housing.
“As Tampa continues to grow, we are focused on creating neighborhoods where residents of all income levels can thrive,” Mayor Jane Castor said, describing the project as inclusive development that expands housing options while reconnecting the historic waterfront community to the rest of the city.
Beyond apartments, the phase includes five live/work units aimed at small-business owners and a 3,800-square-foot workforce training center offering job-readiness help and résumé assistance. The center will be run by the West Tampa Community Development Corporation in partnership with the developer.
When the full master plan is built out, Rome Yards is slated to hold roughly 954 residential units along with townhomes, retail and commercial space, and new public amenities — part of the city’s wider push to add affordable housing in a corridor where rising values have squeezed many longtime, working-class residents.
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