Centro Ybor Still Standing

Complex Built to Draw In New Business Still Holding its Own

Jul 23, 2008 Joe Harless

Built to revitalize the stagnant downtown Ybor City, the complex has met with some success since it opened in 2000.

10 years ago, Ybor City had a reputation as one of the roughest parts of town.

Long gone were the days of the Writers and Artists Ball, the bohemians living in the old New Orleans-style buildings and jazz clubs that could be found in various parts of the city. The strip down 7th Ave. had been replaced by techno clubs and dive bars, marriing the history which the city used as its foundation.

Now, almost 10 years since the city built Centro Ybor, the area has picked itself up a little but much work remains to be done.

In 2000, workers completed the construction of the Centro Ybor shopping area, a collection of high-end store fronts and shopping areas designed to attract big-name business to the area. The work included a 20-theater movieplex that made alchohol available to guests over 21, several new restaurants including Adobe Gilas, a burger and shake joint and a Starbucks, and a multicultural bazaar that featured open mic nights for poetry readings.

At the same time, numerous condos and apartments were built in the areas just off 7th Ave. in the shadow of Interstate 4 next to the Hillsborough Community College, their new facades standing in stark contrast to many of the old raised-porched shotgun homes that formed a shell around Ybor City.

Although toted by the city government as a chance to revive what was seen as a floundering area of the city, the new buildings were also greeted with jeers and skepticism by many who viewed them as little more than crass attempts to force new development on an area known for its night life. Concern was raised over how the new businesses moving in to the shopping complex would react to the many festivals that occur on 7th Ave., most notably the Guavaween festival at the end of October and the various Gasparilla krewe parades that run through the city at various points of the year.

Part of the criticism held true. Many of the stores that moved in had vacated within two years time, but while they left others remained and several new ones stepped in to try their luck.

Now almost eight years since the complex opened, Centro Ybor has better integrated itself into the old architecture of the other buildings. More cigar bars and coffee shops have been set up on 7th Ave. next to the bars, clubs and tattoo parlors, while a few new age bookstores and odd shops continue to thrive in the area.

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