Envy Apartment

The city of Tampa is on the cusp of a total makeover. With billions of dollars in investment and dozens of new apartment, condo, office and cultural buildings in the pipeline, the city's skyline and surrounding communities are poised to look a whole lot different than what it does today. But dreaming up the future of Tampa doesn't come without its challenges. For all the promises of a new urban core filled with hotels, parks, food halls and stores, there are also potential pitfalls. The Tampa Bay Times identified the five key obstacles that stand in the way of some of the biggest projects proposed in Hillsborough County . Many of these challenges are ones local politicians and business leaders have been fighting for years to find a solution. Others are fairly new territory, but still pose a real threat to the region's continued growth. [LOREN ELLIOTT | Times] A construction site is seen just north of Amalie Arena in downtown Tampa , Fla., on Monday, May 1, 2017. Curr...

September 27, 2005 | By Joe Newman, Sentinel Staff Writer When Lesley Brown got her first job out of college, she figured it was time to move out of the cramped house she shared with three other people. But finding something Brown, 22, could afford near the Lockheed Martin facility on Sand Lake Road was another matter. At $950 a month, even a small one-bedroom apartment was out of reach for the University of Central Florida graduate . At that price, she would have been spending much more than a third of her salary on rent. "I was definitely surprised by the prices," Brown said. "The market soared out of my reach." Finding an affordable rental in Central Florida is becoming a Herculean challenge. Two of every five renters in Orange, Seminole, Polk and Volusia counties spent 35 percent or more of their monthly income on housing in 2004, according to a recent U.S. census report. The bureau did not track Osceola County . More than half of all renters in Orange, Semi...