Lightning owner strikes bold vision

TAMPA — Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik has laid out his $1 billion vision for redeveloping a 40-acre waterfront area of Channelside in downtown Tampa.

While final details are still being worked out, Vinik says the goal is to create an “18-hour-a-day” walkable live-work-play neighborhood. Vinik's development team has launched the website tampawaterfront2020.com to attract public input.

Vinik already owns or controls much of the downtown property near Channelside, including the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel & Marina, through his development firm Strategic Property Partners LLC. The waterfront property he plans to redevelop, through five phases that could last a decade, is south of the Crosstown Expressway to Garrison Channel. Work could begin next summer.