Water Street Tampa

Reed Hilderbrand’s 2020 framework plan addresses a 53-acre area just east of downtown Tampa, realigning a street grid linked to the Central Business District and envisioning a vibrant, lush, walkable community. Open spaces integrate hidden support infrastructure for robust planting, including provisions for up to 300 new canopy trees. With the completion of Water Street’s first six blocks in 2023 and its certification as the first-ever WELL Community ™ project, the principles of comfort, connectivity, and resilience were realized. The project was awarded the ULI Americas Award for Excellence in 2023 and an ASLA Honor Award in Urban Design in 2025.

Generosity of Place

Space for trees drove the form and scale of the public realm. Across more than one mile of continuous sidewalks, widths were set to accommodate adequate soil volume to support mature canopy trees. Of 300 live oaks planned for the district, 50 are planted as part of the first phase.

Reed Hilderbrand provisioned diverse open spaces for people across multiple street types, each with trees and distinct furnishing zones. Of these the most generous is Water Street, the district’s namesake, featuring a 45-foot-wide, four-block “verge” planted with a double row of live oaks. This is the site of many modern urban uses, from shaded solitary rest to boisterous group hang-outs, from small musical performances to holiday festivals and installations by local artists. The verge is designed to be welcoming and flexible.

Resilient

  Shaded by urban forest, accessible by bike and on foot, and paved and planted to manage intense stormwater, Water Street is a resilient community rooted to Gulf Coast Florida. By planting relatively large live oaks, we deliver shade and thermal comfort right away, while generous soil volumes and life support systems ensure the canopy can be a cooling climate adaptation in years ahead. Some 62% of sidewalks are permeable or absorptive surfaces. Rain gardens and a palette of native and adaptive species distinguish the neighborhood from more traditionally planted streetscapes.

Connecting to the Water and the City

The site in 2016 consisted of parcels of a formerly industrial waterfront, disconnected from downtown and Tampa Bay. Reed Hilderbrand reoriented street alignments and reduced block sizes to make the neighborhood legible and easy to access. We emphasized a straight connection to the historic water's edge at Garrison Channel and reinforced east-west connections between neighborhoods which were previously interrupted by the undeveloped site. Streets are narrow; blocks are short. Reclaimed brick is reused in parking areas to reduce the perception of road width. Permeable sidewalk paving includes a custom paver whose angles echo an eccentric shift in Tampa’s street-grid orientation. And a 45-foot-wide crosswalk, at the scale of the Water Street furnishing zone, announces that pedestrians are welcome.

The surface expression of Water Street draws inspiration from its relationship to historic downtown and its location at the water's edge. The district sits at the intersection of downtown, Ybor City, and Hyde Park neighborhoods. The paving proportions and designs are informed by these historic grid sizes and the unusual shift in the platting orientation of downtown Tampa.  Water Street's grading, hydrology, vegetation and paving concepts acknowledge and welcome the continual influence of water on the neighborhood.