Atlanta developer pays $34 million for Rattlesnake Point site near South Tampa
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jun 17, 2022

An Atlanta developer has paid $34 million for an industrial property on Rattlesnake Point in Tampa, where plans call for hundreds of residential units as well as retail and restaurant space.

Southeastern closed on the 23-acre site at 5411 W. Tyson Ave. on June 3, according to a Hillsborough County deed filed this week. Tampa City Council on June 2 approved a rezoning request to make way for Southeastern's plans for the property, which include the following:

625 residential units (593 apartments; 32 townhouses)

6,000 square feet for retail or restaurant space

5,584 square foot existing restaurant (Salt Shack on the Bay, which is already open and operating)

The seller was Tampa-based Viper Ventures LLC, which has long controlled most of Rattlesnake Point. Rattlesnake Point is a piece of waterfront land just south of Gandy Boulevard on the Westshore waterfront that juts into Tampa Bay.

The property is directly north of the Orion Marine Construction property that Memphis, Tennessee-based MAA, a publicly-traded real estate investment trust, paid $23.5 million for in 2021. MAA is planning to build nearly 500 apartments on that property. Both developments were mired in controversy and faced neighborhood protests because of the property's industrial history as well as concerns of traffic in the South of Gandy area.

Southeastern plans to include a three-acre park in the project, according to site plans filed with the city. The apartments will be seven stories and have water views; the single-family attached homes will be built on the eastern edge of the property.

The waterfront in the Gandy and Westshore area has changed dramatically in recent years. Westshore Marina District has brought hundreds of residential units to the area, and its master developer, Fort Lauderdale-based BTI Partners, is moving forward with a second condominium tower on Marina Pointe within the district.