What Tampa Can Learn from the Best Economic Development Projects

Recently, Business Facilities magazine - the source for corporate site selectors - released their results of the best upcoming and ongoing economic development projects in the United States. The projects range in size, value and location but all will have or already have a significant impact on their surrounding communities due to the breadth and scope of the projects.

According the the report, Tesla's Gigafactory in the Nevada dessert won top honors; the new Boeing 777 factory in Washington state came in second; and the Comcast Innovation & Technology Center in downtown Philadelphia rounded out the top three. Honorable mentions were given to projects in Tennessee, South Carolina, Florida, and Texas.

The city of Tampa is currently in the midst of its own large and highly anticipated economic development project. Jeff Vinik, former hedge fund manager and owner of the National Hockey League's Tampa Bay Lightning, has purchased nearly 25 acres of land in downtown Tampa surrounding his hockey team's arena over the last five years through his development arm Strategic Property Partners. In his audacious vision, Mr. Vinik plans to bring the campus of the University of South Florida medical school to his downtown project as well as lure a large corporate headquarters to a nearby location. In return, Strategic Property Partners will construction several mixed-used buildings with new retail, office, and residential space for students and employees to live, work and play.

But what can the city of Tampa and the surrounding communities learn from the best economic development projects around the country? There are three important takeaways from the recently released list: bigger is better, brand names go a long way, and government leaders and private owners need to play nicely together.

First, the size, scope, and scale of each of these top award-winning economic development projects are large. Quite large. The top three projects will contribute a combined $17 billion annually in economic development to their respective areas. (Image what the city of Tampa could do with an influx of development even a quarter of that size.) It is significantly easier to develop areas that are already in development than completely undeveloped areas. Bringing in companies and projects to support the current, on-going development only helps to increase everyone's bottom line.

On top of the direct financial contributions development projects have on a particular location, job creation is another highly coveted prize when courting a significant development project. With the top three projects projecting to produce over 54,000 new jobs in total - either via direct or indirect employment - a massive influx of employees increases nearly every economic indicator from property values to school ratings. According to the National Association of Realtors, for every one home purchased, 3 jobs are supported. Inversely, that could lead to approximately $1.2 billion in property value on county and city tax records. (Imagine what the city of Tampa could do with an influx of nearly 6,000 new property owners.)

Secondly, the top three projects all have highly coveted owners or developers leading the charge. In Nevada, Tesla - the electric car company headed by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk - could be the most highly anticipated car company of all time. With as much buzz and hype surrounding Tesla, surely several suitors will follow in the footsteps of the company in order to gleam a piece of the development prize. In Washington, no company might be more closely associated with a particular state than Boeing is with Washington. This deal ensures that the state will continue to have a long relationship with one of its most important benefactors. Similarly, the city of Philadelphia has been the corporate home of Comcast - the mass media goliath - for the past several decades. As the company outgrew its existing space, new space was needed quickly. While the company shopped around the country for possible sites, it ultimately wanted to renew its relationship with the City of Brotherly Love.

While the city of Tampa plays host to several large and important corporations and education hubs, crafting a long term relationship with a Fortune 500 company or top-tier university could draw outside attention to this second-tier city. Companies and universities that have a significant gravitas tend to pull others toward them, wherever they may be located. In Tampa's case, being known for one (or multiple) corporate headquarters may be just the thing to make this town a first class city.

Finally, with any large economic development project, the backing of city, county, and state lawmakers as well as the cooperation of private owners means that all interested parties can stand to benefit significantly. Obviously, local governments - acting through their development boards - look to increase income through taxation and increase attention through notoriety by landing lucrative development projects. Conversely, owners and developers want to find locations where the local municipalities will best support their companies and their workforce. As such, the common ground where lawmakers are willing to forego initial income in the hopes of a long term benefit and where owners can bypass as much of the initial startup costs to generate lasting and sustainable business is the area where deals can be made. While both sides of the transaction have the difficulty of overcoming certain obstacles in the negotiation phases, both parties have an obligation to have the other's interests in mind.

As development projects progress, several moving parts need to come together at once to be completely successful and to have the intended positive economic impact. While the size and name of the developers involved certainly play an important role in getting these development projects underway, ultimately it is the responsibility of all parties to cooperate to the best of their abilities to achieve the best outcome for all those directly and indirectly involved with these projects. If the city of Tampa can learn from the best, surely Tampa can be the best.