Darryl Shaw’s efforts to redevelop underutilized portions of East Ybor City took a formal step forward, with the submission of a rezoning request to the City of Tampa for the proposed ‘East Ybor Medical District’. Filed by Ybor Land LLC under the Casa Ybor umbrella, the request covers the complete makeover of a 25.23-acre assemblage bounded by N. 25th Street and N. 29th Street, and by E. 6th Avenue and E. Adamo Drive. The master-planned district is envisioned as a mixed-use, health-oriented development incorporating medical, hospital, research, office, residential, and retail within 11 city blocks.
The site is currently occupied by light industrial uses and vacant land, zoned for Industrial Heavy (IH) and Industrial General (IG). A related Comprehensive Plan Amendment seeking to rezone the property as Urban Mixed Use-60 received it’s first approval from City Council on January 29th, with a second reading scheduled for February 19th.
Initial design guidelines submitted to the city outline a district that restores East Ybor’s historic street grid while accommodating a range of building forms, including mid-rise, and high-rise structures distributed across multiple city blocks. The framework integrates landscaped streets, open spaces, and parks intended to introduce green space throughout the redevelopment. The guidelines were prepared in collaboration with Of Place, which has previously worked on redevelopment efforts in Ybor City and the nearby Gas Worx project.
While detailed architectural plans have not yet been released, submitted entitlement materials outline a program exceeding 3 million SF. The proposal includes approximately 540,070 SF of residential space (Blocks G8 and H8), 49,000 SF of retail (Blocks H9, H10, H11, and I9), 1,332,105 SF of commercial uses (Blocks H9, H10, H11, I8, and I9), and 169,000 SF of hotel space (Block I8). A 932,425-SF hospital is also planned on the eastern portion of the site and is expected to be anchored by Tampa General, according to the South Florida Business Journal.
Given the limited availability of public transit surrounding the site, the proposal relies heavily on structured parking to serve the district. Parking ratios vary by use, with studio apartments requiring as few as 0.25 spaces per unit, while one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and larger residential units would require 0.75 spaces per unit. Hospital parking is proposed at a minimum ratio of 0.1 spaces per patient bed.
Building heights will ultimately be determined through FAA review, though early massing studies indicate structures ranging from as few as three stories to as many as sixteen. Consistent with Darryl Shaw’s work at Gas Worx, the district is designed with more traditional architectural themes, including expansive windows and brick facades, rather than the contemporary, glass-heavy designs common in newer developments.
The street network is designed with a strong pedestrian emphasis. Plans call for wide sidewalks incorporating lighting, street trees, seating, and landscaped buffers, with select corridors accommodating on-street parking. Sidewalk widths are shown at up to 13 FT on each side of the street, providing well than enough space.
With the rezoning request only recently submitted, the approval process is expected to extend over the coming weeks or months. During that time, Darryl Shaw and his partners are nearing completion on several buildings within the Gas Worx development. Shaw has also advanced plans for additional redevelopment efforts nearby, including proposals affecting multiple parcels along East 7th Avenue and the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office site.