Port Tampa Bay
At its regular monthly meeting, the board agreed to an amended lease arrangement with Gulf Coast Bulk Equipment, Inc. (GCBE), a stevedore and terminal operating firm that has been a licensed operator at the port since 2015. The lease term for their five-acre property at Port Redwing is effective through February 28, 2021. Concurrently, the board approved for GCBE to reassign their lease to the firm’s new partner Logistec Gulf Coast, LLC, a Delaware-based company with stevedoring and terminal activity throughout the U.S. and Canada. As part of the consent to assign the leasehold from GCBE to Logistec Gulf Coast, both firms will consolidate three parcels of land into a combined footprint of nearly 12 acres.
The approval further solidifies the continued growth and development underway at Port Redwing and East Bay, a 270-acre complex with deep-water berths, interstate highway access and direct rail connection to the CSX network. Zoned for heavy industry, the property is adjacent to Tampa Electric Company’s Big Bend power plant providing abundant electricity power at competitive rates. With an additional 145 acres of property available for lease, the Redwing/South Bay area is ideally suited for industrial development and manufacturing focused on export and import activity. Port Redwing is already a home site to Tampa Tank/Florida Structural Steel, which manufactures, imports, and exports impressive steel fabricated structures to points around the U.S. and the world. GCBE currently handles a variety of dry bulk commodities at Redwing for various clients, including Mosaic, the world’s leading integrated producer and marketer of concentrated phosphate and potash.
In a subsequent item during the board meeting, the board agreed to award a construction contract to GLF Construction Company to build out a second new cargo berth at Port Redwing (Berth 302). This new berth—a $14.5 million investment—will enhance the current capacity for bulk and break bulk operations at Port Redwing and is in line with the port’s master plan, that was unveiled just days ago at the port’s new, multi-purpose East Port wharf. The investment in Berth 302 will combine port funds with Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) funds necessary for the construction, dredging and upland improvements planned.
“Port Redwing is a very large portion of our expanding 5,000-acre complex” Paul Anderson, port president and CEO, said. “The Redwing/East Bay site is unique in the southeastern U.S. as a turnkey location for industrial expansion. We will continue to work with our public and private sector partners to develop the area and create jobs, growing the economy and promoting the state’s largest port to the world,” he said.
“The decisions we make, such as lease arrangements and agreements with new and existing partners, ultimately mean jobs and prosperity for our port and for the people of Hillsborough County. As we move ahead with the port’s new master plan and solid planning for the port’s future, we will continue to seek out opportunities that will carry with them generational benefits and keep this fine port competitive on a global level and produce the best benefits for our local area and for the state as major trade and manufacturing gateway,” Sandra Murman, port commissioner, said.
Murman also serves on the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners, so her personal commitment to the residents of the county is strong. “We are extremely lucky here at Port Tampa Bay to have so much land available and to be well situated geographically in order to serve a very large and growing market,” she said.