TAMPA - Horizon Bay Retirement Living announced plans Tuesday for a six-story, 136-apartment building on a 1.92-acre lot in Hyde Park.

Horizon Bay at Hyde Park, 800 W. Azeele St., is scheduled to open in 2011. The project will be Tampa's first in 20-plus years to offer both independent- and assisted-living rental apartments, according to the Tampa-based company.

Plans for the building in the South Tampa neighborhood call for a total of 153,000 square feet, including 50,000 square feet of common area for amenities such as an Internet cafe, a library, a fitness center and a game room plus a pool, bar and lounge with views of Tampa Bay, Horizon Bay Retirement Living said.

Once operational, the retirement community will provide 50 to 60 jobs, the company said. The project will provide about 100 full-time construction jobs.

Apartments will have full kitchens, granite countertops, walk-in closets, ceramic tile, carpeting and 9-foot ceilings.

"We are proud to build our flagship community right here in Tampa," Horizon Bay Chairman and CEO Thilo Best said in making Tuesday's announcement. "This community will be an excellent addition to our ever-growing roster of diverse retirement communities nationwide."

Horizon Bay Retirement Living is a privately owned seniors housing management company with 16,000 units in 89 communities in 18 states, including 22 communities in Florida. Its Tampa Bay area communities include Pinecrest Place in Largo, Horizon Bay in Lutz and Clearwater's Horizon Bay and Regency Oaks.

Jack Wyatt, newly elected president of the Historic Hyde Park Neighborhood Association and a 22-year resident of the neighborhood, said the organization has no opposition to the project.

"We thought it was a pretty good use for the land," vacant since the razing of a defunct testing laboratory and rezoned to accommodate an assisted-living facility.

The apartments will not generate abundant traffic, and "stable permanent residents" in need of health care and other services will contribute to the local economy, Wyatt said.

He said the project is just beyond the boundaries of the association's neighborhood, but Horizon Bay was invited to make a presentation when construction was proposed in 2008. The presentation to the association's land-use committee included preliminary plans and architectural renderings of the building.

"We didn't endorse it per se, but we thought it was a necessary thing for the neighborhood, and we weren't overly concerned about it," said Wyatt, who characterized the building's height as "reasonable."

A ceremonial groundbreaking is set for 11 a.m. Dec. 1.

Reporter George Wilkens can be reached at (813) 259-7124.