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The University of Tampa caused quite an uproar in June 2009 when it purchased the nearby Valencia Garden restaurant with the aim of expanding the campus along West Kennedy Boulevard.
The once-elite eatery for business and political types stood empty until the recent holidays, when bulldozers took it down and began scraping the site.
That activity is the first indicator that UT is finally looking to do something with the coveted property, part of an entire city block purchased over the last year and a half. Local power brokers lamented that the restaurant, with an 82-year history of serving some of Tampa s best chicken and yellow rice, would be turned into a campus parking deck — but that appears not to be the case.
Rick Ogorek, the university's vice president of administration and finance, says there are no specific plans for the site, though a new residence hall or academic building could be built there.
“Whatever is built on this block ... will be of a size, scale and design to benefit future UT students and the city of Tampa,” Ogorek said in a written statement. Property records show UT and the Bailey Family Foundation paid nearly $11 million to the Agliano family, who owned Valencia Garden for generations.
UT can certainly use the extra space. The private university reached enrollment of 6,500 students last fall and awarded 422 bachelor's and master's degrees during its winter commencement Dec. 18.
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