HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. \- The Hillsborough County Board of Commissioners will consider a land swap later this month that would eventually relocate the Sheriff's Office from its current location in Ybor City to a nearly three-times larger site and into a decades-newer building.
Under the proposed swap, the Sheriff’s Office would move to Grow Financial's current headquarters at 9927 Delaney Lake Dr., which developer Darryl Shaw is under contract to acquire.
Grow Financial recently announced its relocation into a new office building in Ybor City. The building will be part of the Gasworx development and is scheduled to break ground this summer.
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“Public safety is and always will be my top priority – without it, nothing else matters, “said Commissioner Michael Owen. “We have an opportunity here to pursue an innovative solution to our Hillsborough Sherriff’s aging facilities and provide his team with a home that will serve future generations.”
The current Sheriff's Office site in Ybor City is located on approximately 8.33 acres of property and includes some structures that are more than 100 years old. If the transaction is allowed, Hillsborough County will exchange the Ybor City property for the Grow Financial location.
The Grow Financial site includes about 24 acres of land and a 5-story skyscraper with 140,000 square feet of office space, roughly twice the size of the current HCSO headquarters. The Grow property also contains a three-story parking structure with roughly 502 spaces.
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“Whenever there's a chance to collaborate for the benefit of taxpayers, the Sheriff’s office, and Ybor City, we are always going to be interested in those opportunities,” said Shaw. “We are fortunate to have forward-thinking public partners who are open to exploring possibilities that could lead to long-term advantages for the community.”
The Grow Financial headquarters were built in 2005.
“I support the county’s incredible collaboration with Mr. Shaw to initiate this land swap, that will increase efficiencies in the services we deliver to the community, supports future growth, and lowers costs for taxpayers,” added Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister.
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If approved, the land swap would allow for the reconnection of 9th Avenue to restore the historic street grid, and foster redevelopment of the parcels with residential and commercial use. Shaw says that preserving the historic casitas along 19th Street would also be a critical placemaking element of any redevelopment project.
The land swap is expected to go before the county commission on June 20th.
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