Tampa groups give awards, establish leaders

The Tampa Downtown Partnership has honored a transformative real estate development with a pair of awards for enhancing the city’s urban core.

Water Street Tampa, a $3 billion joint venture between Microsoft Co-Founder Bill Gates and investor and Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik on 58 acres, received the “Landmark Development Project” award for the $150 million USF Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute building and the 26-story JW Marriott Hotel, which debuted last year.