Kress Building, 811 Franklin Street, Tampa

S.H. Kress & Company building, 811 Franklin Street. 1933. Burgert Brothers. Courtesy, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System

Easily the most controversial and fretted-over block in modern downtown Tampa, the Kress Building is centered in the once-thriving 800 block of Franklin St, with the former J.J. Newberry store to the north and former Woolworth store to the south. The S.H Kress store opened their first store here in 1908, and in 1929 spent $325,000 to construct the 4-story structure still there today. In 1916 F.W. Woolworth took over the land where the Tampa Hardware company was at Polk and Franklin Streets, and in 1941, J.J. Newberry built where the Central Office Building once stood at E. Cass and Franklin Streets, making the trifecta of five and ten cent stores on the block. In the 1940s and 1950s, Franklin Street was an essential shopping and socializing destination in Tampa.

As the late 1950s rolled into the 1960s, retail business began to slow in the region. Shopping centers in suburban neighborhoods became popular, and the large shopping crowds downtown ceased. This property and much of downtown withered. Several plans to revitalize the block have been proposed then fell apart. In 2005, developers of the Jason Group wished to convert the block to condominiums, but the Tampa City Council was concerned about preserving the facades of the old buildings and placed them in historic status, killing the project. The building was once used as a State of the City address by Mayor Bob Buckhorn and as a private party venue during the 2012 Republican National Convention. In 2014, plans for a 22-story tower were again announced but fell through. The developer, The Wilson Company, bought the block in 2018 and is devising yet another plan for redevelopment.

Former S.H. Kress Building, 811 Franklin Street, Tampa, FL. 2021. © Chip Weiner

From Burgert Brothers: Look Again Vol. 1