A Publix Super Markets Inc. real estate veteran is the new general manager of Channelside Bay Plaza.
Franklin Street, which Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik hired to oversee the management and leasing of the tired waterfront mall, has hired Adam Vosding to oversee day-to-day operations at the property.
Vinik took over the ground lease to the plaza in August 2014.
Vosding spent more than 20 years with Publix, working his way up from a part-time bagger into the company’s real estate division, where he had roles in both property management and site selection. He left Publix for a brief stint with Colorado-based Lucky’s Market, a boutique grocer that is expanding into Florida, before joining Franklin Street in mid-March.
At the helm of Channelside Bay Plaza, Vosding said he’ll tap both his property management and real estate experience. So far, he’s spent most of his time observing customer behavior in the plaza and working with the events manager Franklin Street hired last year to draw foot traffic to the property.
“We just want to get people re-acclimated with the property,” he said. “We don’t want to overpromise a whole lot right now. It is what it is. Right now we’re just kind of selling the property as a place to come and host an event.”
Franklin Street is working with Vinik’s real estate team, Strategic Property Partners, on a redevelopment plan for the plaza. Andrew Wright, Franklin Street CEO, told the Tampa Bay Business Journal in late March that a final design was about 45 days away. That plan is subject to the approval of Port Tampa Bay, which owns the ground the mall is built on.
Until then, Vosding said, the focus is on managing the existing tenants and hosting events at the plaza — it recently hosted the Gasparilla International Film Festival.
About 600 to 700 people packed into the plaza over the weekend to watch Lightning’s playoff games against the Montreal Canadiens.
More on Vosding will be in TBBJ’s May 8 print edition.
