Climbing out of the Channelside morass (Tampa)
The effort to turn around Channelside Bay Plaza in Tampa was daunting enough before this week’s news that its Irish owners have moved the property under the protection of an out-of-state federal bankruptcy court. This is bad news for the Tampa Port Authority, which owns the land under Channelside; bad news for the Channel District, which needs an active retail and entertainment center; and bad news for taxpayers, who have primed that part of downtown for new shops and residents and who have a vested stake in seeing that area succeed.