Hillsborough County Commissioners will consider a land swap, at a meeting June 20, that would facilitate a move for the Sheriff’s office, in Ybor City, to a larger site where the Grow Financial headquarters are currently located.
The site would not only be larger, but it would also provide a newer facility for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
The Grow Financial headquarters are located at 9927 Delaney Lake Dr., near Brandon. Developer Darryl Shaw is currently under contract to acquire the property. Grow Financial is relocating to a new office with the Gasworx development in Ybor City.
“Public safety is, and always will be, my top priority – without it, nothing else matters,” Commissioner Michael Owen said. “We have an opportunity here to pursue an innovative solution to our Hillsborough Sheriff’s aging facilities and provide his team with a home that will serve future generations.”
The current Sheriff’s office is on more than 8-acres of land in Ybor City and is housed, in part, within buildings that are more than a century old. The building at the Grow Financial site was built in 2005.
If Hillsborough County Commissioners approve, the county would swap the current Sheriff’s office property for the Grow Financial site, which offers about 24-acres of land. That includes a five-story building with 140,000 square-feet of office space — nearly twice the size of the current Sheriff’s office headquarters. Additionally, the swap would provide a three-story parking garage with more than 500 parking spaces.
“Whenever there’s a chance to collaborate for the benefit of taxpayers, the Sheriff’s office and Ybor City, we are always going to be interested in those opportunities,” Shaw said. “We are fortunate to have forward thinking public partners who are open to exploring possibilities that could lead to long-term advantages for the community.”
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister supports the collaboration between Shaw and the County to “increase efficiencies in the services we deliver to the community.” He also said it would support “future growth” and lower taxpayer costs.
In addition to providing a modernized and larger facility for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, the swap would also allow the opportunity to reconnect 9th Ave., in Ybor
City, to restore the city’s historic street grid. It would also foster redevelopment to provide residential and commercial use. Shaw has said that he would preserve historic aspects of the site.