South Howard Will Stay Open Through 2030, Just Never All of It

"I've seen Swann close for four hours one day, and I was backed up all the way to Henderson." Michael Stewart, who runs AVA and The Landon on South Howard, said that to Tampa City Council in September, as Tampa Bay Business & Wealth reported. Council approved the $100.4 million South Howard Flood Relief and Streetscape Project at that same meeting.

Under the city's construction plan, crews will work in about 24 zones of roughly 400 to 600 feet each, and they will restore and reopen each finished section as they move north. At any given point between now and 2030, most of South Howard is supposed to be open, but the closed stretch will keep moving. Where that stretch sits in a given month matters more for dinner plans than the four-year headline does.

The Order of Work

The first two dates have already happened. The rest are forecasts.

1. September 17, 2026. Council approved construction on a 4-3 vote. Kimmins Contracting Corp. is the contractor, with a guaranteed maximum price of $92.71 million.
2. September 21, 2026. A court filing dated October 8 says the city delivered the signed agreement and a notice to proceed to Kimmins that day.
3. November 2026. Utility relocation is expected to begin. The project site says crews will move existing utilities before any box culvert goes in.
4. May 2027. The city's September 3 presentation to council puts the start of box-culvert construction on South Howard in this month, beginning near Bayshore Boulevard.
5. September 2030. Substantial completion is forecast for this month in the same presentation.

The route explains why the work moves north. The main line is a box culvert about 10 feet wide and 10 feet tall. It starts near Bayshore Boulevard, runs north under South Howard to Swann Avenue, then turns west toward Audubon Avenue and north toward Parkland Estates and Palma Ceia Pines. Counting everything, that is roughly 7,000 feet of new stormwater line, along with about 11,800 feet of replaced or upgraded water mains and about 3,200 feet of relocated sewer. The downstream outlet has to be built before upstream water has anywhere to go, so the Bayshore end comes first.

The project's Alerts page has not yet said which block gets the first utility crew. As of this week, its newest post is a September 1 item about a business group's proposed alternate route. It has no closure notice yet.

The Restaurants That Opened Into It

Several of the newest places on the corridor opened this year, knowing the dig was ahead.

Meeting House took over the space where Daily Eats ran for about 20 years before it closed on June 15. That's So Tampa covered the opening in August. Howard & Platt's July debut and The Landon's March reopening were covered locally as well.

At September's council meeting, the established owners described what is at stake. Representatives for CRG said its businesses employ about 600 people and have been on South Howard for roughly 30 years. David Laxer of Bern's Steak House connected nearly 300 employees to the corridor. He said his worry was less the construction itself than dining habits shifting to other parts of town while it goes on. Because the work moves zone by zone, how much of that happens will depend on whether people can still reach the open blocks easily.

What a Block Under Construction Looks Like

The city and Kimmins have published what happens while a zone is active.

The project FAQ estimates that any single driveway could be blocked for five to seven weeks. It lists temporary access, off-site parking, 24/7 security and a golf-cart shuttle as possible ways to handle that. It also describes an 8- to 10-week closure of Bayshore Boulevard's two southbound lanes. During that time one northbound lane would carry southbound traffic, leaving one lane each way. No dates are attached to that plan yet.

The Business Assistance Plan commits to these steps:

• Kimmins will have a four-person team that works directly with merchants on construction problems, including deliveries.
• An independent company will monitor vibration, and buildings along the route will be photographed and documented before work starts.
• Walking routes will stay open with signs through active zones, and detour signs will direct drivers to businesses.
• Heavy equipment will use newer backup alarms meant to cut unnecessary noise.
• The city will run a campaign called SohOPEN on social media and billboards, reminding people that South Howard businesses are open during construction.

The plan does not mention parking validation. The FAQ also says the city will hold a public information meeting on access, accommodations and duration before construction begins. No date has been posted for it.

The Part Still Before a Judge

Bern's and other South Howard property owners have filed two class-action lawsuits seeking to stop the project, WUSF reported. The defendants are the city, Mayor Jane Castor, Kimmins and AtkinsRealis USA.

The two suits make different claims. One says the planned culvert reaches beyond the city's legal right to use the street and onto private property. The other says the project's scope and cost changed without the required notice to property owners about how stormwater assessment money would be used. The second suit asks only for declaratory and injunctive relief. A city spokesperson told WUSF that the administration does not comment on pending litigation.

There is also an engineering question. The culvert route crosses CSX railroad tracks, and as of the September vote the city still needed a final CSX permit for a 60-inch pipe beneath them. City staff told council that CSX had set four requirements and indicated the design would meet its standards if those requirements were met. One of the complaints, filed October 8, alleges that the crossing as priced does not meet CSX standards. When WUSF reported on October 12, it described the litigation as pending.

So the November start is the plan in effect, but a court could still change the timing.

The Calendar Around the Construction Zone

For now, the rest of Hyde Park's fall calendar runs on its usual schedule, and some of it reflects longer commitments to the area.

The Fresh Market at Hyde Park Village is on the first Sunday of each month at 742 South Village Circle. The next two dates are November 1 and December 6, opening at 10 a.m. The market operator's calendar lists a 3 p.m. close for October through May, and the Village's own listing says 2 p.m.

Holiday Happening is on November 19 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. It includes live music, a Tampa City Ballet performance, Santa, and a tree lighting at 7:45 p.m. that benefits the Children's Dream Fund.

Bouzy Jazz Thursdays continue weekly on the Village event calendar, with sets listed from 7 to 10 p.m.

The Village tenant news fits the same pattern. LoveShackFancy opened at 1619 W. Snow Ave. on July 10, and Ralph Lauren was open at 1609 W. Snow Ave. by late July. In October, That's So Tampa reported that On Swann, Downtown Dogs and Buddy Brew had renewed their leases. Brunello Cucinelli is coming in 2027, and Cartier is expected in late 2027 or early 2028. All of those openings and renewals fall in the years when SoHo will be under construction.

The Alerts page is where the city has said it will post specific closures and detours, so that is the place to check which block is affected in a given week.

If you own a home near South Howard and have been wondering how four years of rolling construction could affect your plans or your home's value, Onyx Collective can go through it with you block by block. Start with a free home valuation, and we will keep track of the construction schedule as it changes.