Ybor City

[jonknee]

... And bankrupt. Pump and dump that never got dumped.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/busines...ruptcy/1227702

Struggling Savtira Corp. seeks Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Pressed by creditors, federal labor regulators and a recent spate of bad publicity, Tampa e-commerce business Savtira Corp. said it is filing for bankruptcy protection.

"We were forced to file Chapter 11," Savtira CEO Tim Roberts said in an e-mailed statement sent Sunday night. "This is actually a protection bubble around the company to ward off this hostile takeover attempt." Roberts told the Tampa Bay Times earlier that "greedy investors" were pushing the firm to fail in order to buy its assets on the cheap.

"We feel confident we will come out of this quickly and fully funded," Roberts stated.

The firm faces demands from the Department of Labor to pay back wages to its employees and multiple lawsuits from vendors seeking to be paid for staffing and other services.

The firm, based in Ybor City at 2101 E. Palm Ave. had made bold statements earlier promising fast growth and hundreds of jobs.

[Jasonhouse]

lol!

Nice call on that one. Sounded a bit hokey... And it was.

[TampaMike]

And they expect more incentives. Bob made the right decision and made it clear he and the city wouldn't go after them if they had the intentions to leave.

[koopalicious]

Baseball museum stars Lopez home

By MIKE SALINERO | The Tampa Tribune
Published: May 15, 2012

TAMPA --
A museum dedicated to Tampa's rich baseball history is coming to Ybor City and could eventually be housed in Baseball Hall of Famer Al Lopez's family home.

On Wednesday, members of the Ybor City Museum Society will ask Hillsborough County commissioners to lease land at the northeast corner of Ninth Avenue and 19th Street to Tampa. The city then would sublet it to the museum society for the baseball museum.

"I think the Al Lopez Baseball Museum will not only serve as a tribute to a major league baseball legend, it will increase tourism and serve as an economic engine for the Ybor City area," said Hillsborough Commissioner Kevin Beckner, who has been working with the museum society on the effort.

The Florida Department of Transportation has agreed to move Lopez's childhood home, now at 1210 E.12th St., to the leased site, across from Centennial Park. The land is at the southwest corner of the old county Environmental Protection Commission site and is a parking area for the sheriff's office.

"What we want to do is create a museum for Al and other baseball greats we have in our county," said Mary Alvarez, treasurer for the Ybor City Museum Society and a former Tampa councilwoman.

Once the lease is granted, it will take the transportation department about six months to move the house and an additional year for the museum society to rehabilitate the structure. The society will use grants or loans for the rehabilitation work and operations. No county money will be needed.

In the meantime, the museum society plans to open a baseball exhibit on Oct. 18 called "For the Love of the Game" at the Ybor City Museum State Park. The exhibit will be kept and shown in the former Ferlita Bakery until the Lopez house is ready. The society also will solicit memorabilia from throughout the city and county.

"The concept is trying to keep the Al Lopez house in Ybor," said Chantal Hevia, president and chief executive officer of the Ybor City Museum Society. "Not only did he live there, but it will provide a beautiful tie-in that baseball had to Ybor City and West Tampa."

Lopez was the first Tampa native to play in the major leagues. When he retired as a player in 1947, he held the record for the most games played as a catcher: 1,918. He then turned to managing and won American League pennants with the 1954 Cleveland Indians and the 1959 Chicago White Sox. Both teams lost in the World Series.

Lopez's mother, Faustina, and father, Modesto, moved into the house about 1910 or 1912, said Al Lopez Jr. His father was the eighth of nine children. Family members lived in the house until 1959, he said.

Lopez Jr. said he had heard rumors that there were plans to save the house, which was acquired by the DOT to make way for Interstate 4 expansion.

"Anything that is meant to honor my dad or help honor the past of the Latin community is a wonderful thing," Lopez Jr. said. "But I haven't been made aware of it."

Hevia, the society CEO, said the museum will focus on baseball in the Tampa area, including the teams representing cigar factories or different ethnic groups in the first half of the 20th century.

The museum will feature famous major leaguers who hail from this area. Two of those players, Fred McGriff and Tino Martinez, said Monday they were excited about the prospect of a local baseball museum.

"I've always said Tampa has to be one of the greatest towns in America for producing baseball talent," McGriff said. "There's a long story to be told there; we need to keep telling that story."

Martinez said that when he was growing up he looked up to earlier Tampa players such as Lou Piniella and Steve Garvey.

"I'm curious to know more about the players who came before us," Martinez said, "and I know I'm going to follow the players from here who are coming up now."

http://www2.tbo.com/news/news/2012/m...ome-ar-403774/

I think this is really great!

[Jasonhouse]

You get to visit Al Lopez's home, except it's been moved to make way for a widened road... Yep, sounds like Tampa alright.



And I love the outreach to the Lopez family...

Lopez Jr. said he had heard rumors that there were plans to save the house, which was acquired by the DOT to make way for Interstate 4 expansion.

"Anything that is meant to honor my dad or help honor the past of the Latin community is a wonderful thing," Lopez Jr. said. "But I haven't been made aware of it."

[koopalicious]

Originally Posted by Jasonhouse

You get to visit Al Lopez's home, except it's been moved to make way for a widened road... Yep, sounds like Tampa alright.

a) they're saving and renovating an historic property
b) creating a worthwhile museum
c) losing some surface parking on a corner lot

Seriously, how is this a bad thing?

[Jasonhouse]

It's not a bad thing at all, I'm just being my usual cynical self.

[John F]

Considered starting a new thread for this but I'll just stick it here:

Centro Ybor is for sale - http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/...-for-sale.html

I find it interesting that the owners were ready to buy Channelside, and now they are selling. I'm wondering if Bill Edwards will make a push for it? Or, perhaps, he wa already offered the plaza but passed on it? After all, Wilkow and Edwards parties teamed up on their bid for Channelside.

[HARTride 2012]

Not surprised about Centro at this point. It is faltering just like Channelside & BayWalk.

[TampaMike]

Originally Posted by John F

Considered starting a new thread for this but I'll just stick it here:

Centro Ybor is for sale - http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/...-for-sale.html

I find it interesting that the owners were ready to buy Channelside, and now they are selling. I'm wondering if Bill Edwards will make a push for it? Or, perhaps, he wa already offered the plaza but passed on it? After all, Wilkow and Edwards parties teamed up on their bid for Channelside.

Or maybe they got an inside of how much Edwards has and how much he was planning to do with Channelside that they said, "Hey, we can sell this for a good price and get it out of our hands."

[John F]

Originally Posted by HARTride 2012

Not surprised about Centro at this point. It is faltering just like Channelside & BayWalk.

With a 90% occupancy rate, per the article? Faltering? "Just like Chanelside and BayWalk"?

[koopalicious]

Originally Posted by John F

With a 90% occupancy rate, per the article? Faltering? "Just like Chanelside and BayWalk"?

I suppose if you're happy having a low-density office complex along the city's lone streetcar line in the heart of Ybor City, then no, it's not faltering. If you had other ambitions, however, then it's pretty much a bust at this point.

[Jasonhouse]

Originally Posted by TampaMike

Or maybe they got an inside of how much Edwards has and how much he was planning to do with Channelside that they said, "Hey, we can sell this for a good price and get it out of our hands."

Exactly my thoughts.

[Urbanite]

Just an update to some of the comings and goings in Ybor. Some are not too new but since it's been awhile since this thread has been used, I'll post them anyway...
1. Buffalo Wild Wings is coming along well. Should be open in a month or so. It's across the street from the Hookah Lounge, near Bernini's. Looking forward to watching games there.
2. Big Mouth Burger closed. Good!...it was terrible. No word if there's any interest in that spot. Personally, I'd like to see a taco restaurant there. Chipotle?
3. Sunday's Fine Dining closed but opened up a deli/restaurant across the street.
4. Istanblu, a Turkish restaurant, opened up in Sunday's old space, a couple weeks ago. Good food
5. Speaking of Mediterranean cuisine, there's also a restaurant called Row Boat and an adjoining bar called R Bar, where Laughing Cat used to be (8th and 15th)
6. A Latin dance club, called Factoria, opened where Empire was. There's also a cigar shop in that space.
7. Aside from that, not much else going on. Art galleries, such as Box on 5th, have sprung up.
Oh, there's a mural too on 7th ave near one of the galleries.

http://www2.tbo.com/news/breaking-ne...ion-ar-543638/

[tampaizzy]

I'm actually bummed about the BWW, i was hoping for something more original and unique, but i suppose you have to have some standards in any neighborhood.

[HARTride 2012]

I'm not surprised about Big Mouth Burger. It was ok for what it was, but Five Guys is FAR better than they were.