Feeding Tampa Bay warehouse on track for 2024 opening

By LINDA CHION KENNEY

Hillsborough County commissioners this month signed off on a funding agreement to earmark $5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to help fund construction of a Feeding Tampa Bay regional facility off Causeway Boulevard, said to be "the largest social services capital project in Tampa Bay history."

At the board meeting March 1, Hillsborough's director of management and budget, Kevin Hickey, said the facility "will expand Feeding Tampa Bay's food service capacity and its ability to provide additional job training opportunities to residents experiencing food challenges and other social-economic impacts due to the pandemic."

Commissioners approved the agreement in a unanimous vote.

Commissioners in March 2022 had originally approved project funding. They approved use of ARPA – Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds for capital expenditures of this type in September 2021. The action this month was to approve the ARPA funding agreement between the county and Feeding America Tampa Bay Inc., doing business as Feeding Tampa Bay.

The total budget for the 200,000-square-foot regional center, set for an 18-acre tract on Causeway Boulevard, is approximately $54 million, of which $41 million is earmarked for construction. Feeding Tampa Bay, part of the national Feeding America network, serves the 10-county area of West Central Florida, and capital funds reportedly are being sought from other public and private sources as well.

According to the Hillsborough County agreement, in return for its contribution, Feeding America Tampa Bay agrees to provide up to 5,000 square feet of dedicated space for use by "county and other constitutional purposes." As well, exterior signage will include the words, "Hillsborough County."

Construction started in November for the new facility, which is set to be nearly twice the size of the current Feeding Tampa Bay warehouse at 4702 Transport Drive, Building No. 6. Slated to open in 2024, the new facility is set to become a "hub of opportunity" that furthers the nonprofit's goal of creating a hunger-free community by 2025. Indeed, Feeding Tampa Bay promotes the building as "the largest social services capital project in Tampa Bay history."

A rendering of the Feeding Tampa Bay regional warehouse under construction on Causeway Boulevard.

The building reportedly will increase twofold Feeding Tampa Bay's capacity to store and provide fresh produce and perishable goods. Also, it will provide 5,000 fresh meals prepared daily in a state-of-the-art production and training kitchen. Feeding Tampa Bay officials further note that the facility will enable the nonprofit to provide 75 million more meals per year, "complementing our efforts to shorten the line with our expanded Feeding Tampa Bay programs," which, in turn, "will meet the entire demand of food in our region."

In addition to these lofty goals, the facility will offer services tied to self-sufficiency and financial security, including on-site medical, grocery and restaurant services; job training, financial counseling and health consultations; and access to benefits such as SNAP and WIC. "Gathering rooms" are earmarked for partnership collaborations, and the facility overall is expected to yield a 50 percent increase in community involvement and volunteerism.

For more, visit www.feedingtampabay.org/.