Tampa Bay Developer

Tampa Bay's shipping channel is getting its first deepening in about 50 years, and Patrick Blair of Port Tampa Bay joins Garrett Greco to explain what the $1.3 billion Tampa Harbor Navigation Improvement Project means for the cost of goods, gas and building materials across the region. He walks through how the Army Corps of Engineers will take the channel from 43 to 47 feet, why the work stays inside the existing footprint, and where the dredged rock and sand will go, from Egmont Key to 60 new acres at Eastport.

Patrick also covers the port's next cruise terminal on the old banana docks site, the traffic plan around Channelside, why the port is running out of land, and how much of Florida's fuel comes in through Port Tampa Bay. It's for anyone who follows Tampa development, waterfront growth, or where the gas, cement and road base around them actually comes from.

Patrick Blair is vice president of engineering at Port Tampa Bay, where he oversees permitting, construction, engineering and maintenance. He served four years in the Army, earned his engineering degree, and worked as a structural consultant designing mid-rise buildings in St. Petersburg before joining the port in 2010.

0:00 The Harbor Deepening Project
2:45 How Hydraulic Dredging Works
13:35 Creating and Permitting New Land
26:45 Expanding Cruise Capacity
31:22 The Waterfront Master Plan
37:59 Fuel, Tenants, and Neighbors
45:43 Traffic and the Riverwalk
50:26 Running the Port's Engineering
1:03:22 Dredge Material and Funding
1:15:48 Economic Payoff of Deepening

D.C. Goutoufas joins Garrett on Tampa Bay Developer to discuss Tampa's Greek history, the Greek families who once owned property and ran businesses along the downtown riverfront, and how losing his hearing at four shaped his push for closed captioning in local government, plus the story behind Park Tower, downtown Tampa's first skyscraper.

D.C. Goutoufas is a Tampa native and the Special Projects Analyst and Disability Outreach Coordinator at the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser's Office. A former Wachovia branch manager and the founder of Gaspar's Cigar Shoppe, he advocates for people who are deaf and hard of hearing, and his daughter Olivia joins him to interpret.

0:00 Tampa's First Greek Immigrant

5:55 Tampa's Lost Greek Riverfront

11:16 Park Tower and Family Businesses

18:16 Growing Up Deaf in Tampa

27:07 Bringing Captions to Government

31:40 Running for Council at 21

34:55 Tampa Greeks and Tarpon Springs

46:11 A Korean War Silver Star

50:12 Preserving the Park Hotel

1:03:36 Gaspar Cigars and Tampa Tobacco

Akash Patel joins Garrett on Tampa Bay Developer to discuss why developers are frustrated with Tampa, where the city's money is going, and how permitting problems, suburban growth, and outdated transportation could impact Tampa's future.

Akash Patel is the founder of Elevate Inc. in Tampa and creator of Noodles & Networking. As a Tampa business leader and entrepreneur, Patel brings a local business perspective to conversations about economic development, networking, infrastructure, and the challenges facing the Tampa Bay community.

0:00 Noodles and Networking Recap
18:22 Corporate Relocations and Wages
21:20 The Rise of Private Clubs
29:12 Placemaking and Downtown Traffic
41:39 The Rays Stadium Deal
52:00 Small Business Permitting Red Tape
57:23 Tampa's 2027 Mayor Race
1:14:22 City Versus County Funding
1:22:03 Amendment 3 and Taxes
1:29:52 Getting Involved Locally

Jeff Trosclair joins TBD Podcast to explain how house lifting is helping Florida homeowners protect flood-prone properties, what it actually costs to raise an entire home, and why Hurricanes Helene and Milton created enormous demand for home elevation across Tampa Bay.

The TBD POD goes live from Run Club for MFs That Don’t Run at 1920 Ybor City to talk with the people shaping Tampa’s culture about run clubs, Ybor City, development, community, small businesses, and why so many people are moving to Tampa.

George Guida Jr. joins the TBD Podcast to share the forgotten history of West Tampa, what it was like growing up among its immigrant families, cigar factories, streetcars and family businesses, the legacy of his father “Mr. West Tampa,” and the restoration of the historic Guida Home.

00:00 Intro

02:55 Cigars build West Tampa

10:45 Mutual aid societies

21:25 Childhood games and cork ball

25:26 The family home

30:21 Dad's hot pink fenders

41:31 Mr. West Tampa legacy

47:26 Restoring the family home

50:45 West Tampa's changing future

1:02:02 Streetcar memories

Taylor Cheeseman joins TBD to explain how the Children’s Home Network evolved from taking abandoned children off Tampa’s streets in 1892 to providing foster care, behavioral health, family support, special-needs services, and interventions designed to stop families from reaching crisis.

00:00 Intro

01:19 Carrie Hammersley's 1892 founding

05:10 From orphanage to cottage care

15:47 Securing the Memorial Highway campus

24:31 Specialized residential programs today

26:50 Community-based prevention programs

30:26 Navigating complex public funding

52:07 Public scrutiny of nonprofits

1:00:05 Private sector's moral obligation

1:08:38 Future plans and getting involved

Conservation Florida President and CEO Traci Deen joins TBD Podcast to explain how Florida can handle explosive population growth while protecting the state parks, water, wildlife corridors, farms, ranches, and wild places that make Florida unique.

0:00 - Intro

1:41 - State park development controversy

10:06 - Florida's explosive population growth

17:16 - Balancing growth and conservation

31:02 - Data centers spark political debate

36:50 - Polk County conservation tax referendum

49:17 - Choosing which land to protect

54:42 - Military and ranching partnerships

1:00:35 - Turning stormwater ponds into parks

1:22:04 - Florida's story and culture

Tampa Terrence joins the TBD Podcast to reveal how he became one of Tampa’s biggest social media personalities, found the viral “Lieutenant Dan” during the hurricanes, ran the Boston Marathon barefoot, and ended up traveling across America working with Jake Paul.

00:00 Intro

02:50 Lieutenant Dan goes viral

14:02 University of Tampa series

18:44 Why he goes barefoot

21:17 Barefoot Boston Marathon

28:00 Jake Paul RV summer

38:25 What's next for Terrance

43:53 Tampa history and growth

51:25 Ybor City's future

1:05:43 Running for city council

Tampa entrepreneur Ed Buckley joins Garrett Greco to break down how Water Street transformed downtown Tampa, why Channelside struggled to create the same energy, what Gasworx could become next, and how walkability, restaurants, high-paying jobs, startups, and private investment are reshaping the city.

00:00 Intro

03:06 AI models and personalities

13:32 PureFit's college origins

24:14 Water Street and downtown Tampa

39:21 Rays stadium public funding

51:02 Dubai and the UAE

57:36 America's sovereign wealth fund

1:10:54 Tokyo and Japanese culture

1:44:45 Selling to Peloton

1:49:46 Scholar and education tech