Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik isn’t ready yet to unveil a gleaming architectural drawing of how everything in the new Channelside Bay Plaza will look, partly because that plan won’t exist for many more months.
However, on Friday some of his lieutenants sketched out a timeline for when they hope some of the major pieces will fall into place for renovating both the struggling shopping complex and the wider Channel District neighborhood that Vinik increasingly controls with each passing land purchase he makes.
“For a long time we weren’t allowed to talk to anyone at the port or on the site at all,” said Jim Shimberg, executive vice president and general counsel of the Lightning and chief lawyer for Vinik’s Channelside project. “And until Monday, we didn’t know for sure if Channelside would be a component we would have for the master plan.”