When does the work reach your block on South Howard? Since the Tampa City Council approved the $100.4 million South Howard Flood Relief and Streetscape Project on September 17, that has been the useful question. The vote passed 4 to 3 after years of debate. The city's schedule sends the work up the corridor in pieces. It starts at the Bayshore end and moves north over almost four years, finishing one short section before opening the next.
Roberto Torres owns Blind Tiger Coffee Roasters at 934 S. Howard Ave. He described the schedule to the Tampa Bay Times in five words: "Everybody is going to get their year." The rest of this post covers who gets which year, and what the street looks like in the meantime.
The dig starts at the water
City staff presented a milestone schedule at the September 17 council session. It runs from south to north:
- October 2026: Notice to Proceed for the contractor, Kimmins Contracting Corp.
- November 2026: Utility relocation begins.
- March 2027: Work begins on the triple box culvert extension under Bayshore Boulevard.
- May 2027: Box culvert construction starts on South Howard itself.
- May 2028: The crossing under the CSX railroad tracks.
- February 2029: The W. Morrison Avenue intersection.
- May 2030: The Parkland Estates intersection.
- September 2030: Substantial completion.
The main structure is a concrete culvert about 10 feet wide and 10 feet tall. It begins near Bayshore Boulevard and runs north under South Howard to Swann Avenue. From there it turns west toward Audubon Avenue, then north toward Parkland Estates and Palma Ceia Pines. The city also plans to replace or upgrade about 11,800 feet of water mains and relocate roughly 3,200 feet of gravity sewer.
On paper, the stretch of South Howard between Bayshore and Swann carries the big box structure. North of Swann, the line heads off into side streets. The milestones fit that route. The South Howard culvert starts in 2027, and the Morrison and Parkland Estates intersections don't arrive until 2029 and 2030.
Why one block's year isn't another's
The work is divided into 24 phases of roughly 400 to 600 feet each. The project's own construction phasing exhibit estimates 957 working days, or 1,408 calendar days, which is three years and ten months. Phase 1 sits at the Hillsborough Bay end, and the plan is marked "Subject to Change."
Under the project FAQ, Kimmins has to reopen one section to traffic before it starts on the next. The FAQ says some activities may overlap, and the plan can be revised when changes improve traffic or access for nearby properties. In practice, that leaves most of the corridor open at any given time. A 400-foot zone is roughly the distance between a couple of cross streets.
Blind Tiger is the clearest published example of a block's timeline. The Times reports that construction in front of the 934 S. Howard café is slated to start between the second and third quarters of 2027. It isn't expected to wrap up there until the first half of 2028. So that block's year runs longer than twelve months. A zone that only takes a few weeks to dig can still sit inside a much longer window of activity.
The overall dates also differ slightly from page to page. The city's project registry at tampa.gov lists a planned start of March 1, 2027, and an end of December 1, 2030. The FAQ still uses older wording: a "late 2026" start and about three years of work. The September 17 milestones are the most detailed version, and the one the council voted on.
What a closed block actually looks like
The FAQ sets out the ground rules. Crews work from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. Weekend and night work happen only on a limited basis, when the city deems it necessary. Most of SoHo's dinner and weekend hours fall outside that window. The holes stay, but the equipment noise mostly stops by evening.
For access, the design-build team estimates that a single driveway could be blocked for five to seven weeks. During that time, the plan calls for temporary driveways and walkways, plus an off-site parking area with 24/7 security and a golf-cart shuttle. The FAQ doesn't name the parking site yet.
Bayshore is the stretch most South Tampa drivers will notice first. When the culvert goes in there, the two southbound lanes of Bayshore Boulevard close for about eight to ten weeks. One northbound lane switches to southbound, leaving one lane in each direction. At the council meeting, Michael Stewart, the longtime South Howard restaurateur behind AVA and The Landon, raised traffic concerns. As Tampa Bay Business Weekly reported, he recalled a four-hour Swann Avenue closure that backed traffic up to Henderson Boulevard.
On the business side, the city and Kimmins have a business assistance plan. It limits active construction to the 400-to-600-foot sections, promises signed pedestrian routes and quick restoration, and assigns a four-person team to help businesses, including with deliveries. The same plan describes SohOPEN, a campaign that uses social media, billboards and other advertising to remind customers that corridor businesses are still open.
Torres told the Times he isn't sure how much a campaign can do "when there's a 10-foot by 10-foot hole in front of our store in the middle of December."
The 2026 openings that came first
The schedule matters more because of what opened on South Howard this year. Several of the corridor's newest rooms opened or reopened in 2026, while the project was still being debated:
- The Landon, 717 S. Howard Ave. Michael Stewart's elevated American restaurant, with chef Robert Hesse, in the former 717 South space. The Tampa Bay Times reported it was set to open March 23.
- Good Luck Chuck's, 410 S. Howard Ave. A retro, music-focused bar from Disser Hospitality in the former SoHo Saloon. That's So Tampa reported in late May that it had debuted.
- Howard & Platt, 301 S. Howard Ave. Disser Hospitality's globally influenced restaurant and cocktail bar, with dinner and brunch. It opened July 23, according to That's So Tampa.
- Meeting House, 901 S. Howard Ave. A diner-style neighborhood restaurant serving lunch, dinner and weekend brunch in the former Daily Eats space. It had officially reopened by August 20, per That's So Tampa.
Michael Disser owns Howard & Platt, Good Luck Chuck's, Corner Bar and Sunset Rodeo. He gave the Times the plainest advice for the years ahead: "Go to dinner, grab a drink, meet friends, try somewhere new or keep visiting the places you already love."
Other owners on the corridor have taken a different view. David Laxer, owner and president of Bern's Steak House Group, told the Times that a remedy is needed. He also said that shutting down a major business corridor "is not a remedy we can live with." As Tampa Newsroom reported October 12, Bern's and five other property owners filed two class-action suits seeking to stop construction. The city declined to comment, and a court-ordered pause could shift the timeline. The Times reports that both suits were filed in Hillsborough County. The Times lists the businesses named as representatives as Bern's at 1208 S. Howard Ave., Sweet Soul, Water + Flour, Green Lemon, Meeting House, and the Epicurean Hotel's Élevage SoHo Kitchen & Bar and EDGE Rooftop Cocktail Lounge. For now, the suits are pending, and the published schedule is the one the city is working from.
November, before the first zone opens
The first visible step is utility work. Before the box culvert can go in, crews have to relocate utilities, including upgrades to water, wastewater and stormwater lines. Overhead power and communications lines along S. Howard Avenue are also being moved or put underground. The council schedule puts that start in November 2026. Block-by-block details for this phase haven't been posted yet. The city says temporary closures, traffic shifts and detours will appear on the project Alerts page as they're scheduled. The FAQ also promises a public information meeting before construction starts, covering access, accommodations and how long the work will take.
This holiday season is the last one before the culvert work starts on South Howard in May 2027. Around the corner, Hyde Park Village holds its Holiday Happening on Thursday, November 19, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. The evening includes live music, a Nutcracker-inspired performance by Tampa City Ballet, Santa, and a tree lighting at 7:45 p.m. On the night before Thanksgiving, Grove SoHo at 406 S. Howard Ave. has a party listed for November 25, running from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m.
For any single block, the dates that will matter most are still to come. SHStormwater.com will post each zone's start, and that's when that stretch of South Howard begins its year.
If you own a home near the corridor and are thinking about selling, timing and presentation will look a little different over the next four years. At Siftar Group, we follow the project schedule closely and can show you how it fits into your listing plan. Schedule your complimentary listing consultation.
