'Coffee with a side of construction': Tampa restaurant suffering from road construction on nearby street
TAMPA, Fla. - Coffee with a side of construction was never on the menu at King State, which opened in Tampa Heights almost five years ago.
But that’s now a reality thanks to ongoing work on Floribraska Avenue to upgrade water infrastructure and to make safety improvements for bicyclists, city officials told FOX 13.
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"It smells like tar. It's the dust. It’s the back and forth (of construction machinery)," co-owner Nate Young said while standing on the sidewalk outside the restaurant. "Concrete dust is flying everywhere. You're just in a construction zone."
Co-Owner Tim McTague sits in the middle of the street amid on-going construction. (Photo courtesy: King State).
Sometimes the work shuts part of the road down. Other times, it’s the entire street in front of King State. Co-owners Young and Tim McTague told FOX 13 that business has suffered since work began in September.
"We did better (financially) in the 2020 pandemic than we did this quarter," Young said.
One morning, the owners set up a table and drank coffee in the middle of Floribraska Ave, which was completely shut down during what would typically be their morning rush.
"Really the only thing I could say is just try to get here, you know what I mean? Again, we know stuff like this has to happen," Young said. "But there just seems to be very little urgency or care."
A statement from the city reads as follows:
"The City and its contractors have been working to maintain access to King State during construction. Plans are in place to create signage that will show customers that King State is open, and help drivers navigate current closures.
City staff have spoken with the owners of King State and have connected them with the City’s Risk Management team so that they can file a claim for lost business income.
Photo courtesy: King State
The City and its contractor followed all notification requirements and have made contact with the owner as well as staff and management on several occasions. Nevertheless, we have identified areas where we can improve our communications and are currently reevaluating our approach for notifying residents and businesses that may be impacted by future construction. This includes expanding our notification process and increased signage, so that motorists can be made aware when local businesses remain open during construction."
The small business owners said they are taking their concerns to city council at Thursday’s regular meeting and have already submitted a claim for losses.
They just opened a second location in St. Petersburg, so they need this Tampa location to thrive.
But the Tampa natives feel like they’re fighting the same city they’re trying to succeed in.
"People came to us when we opened this, like, you should do it in Atlanta or Nashville. We're like, no, we want to do it here," Young said. "Make sure that we can build this city to what we want it to be like."