TAMPA, Fla. — The owners of a popular Tampa cafe say they’ve lost a lot of business due to ongoing road construction.
The owners of the King State cafe say road work on Floribraska Avenue has made it hard for customers to get to their property. At times, the road has been completely shut down, and the owners say they had no warning.
When co-owner Nate Young set out to start the business, he said he did it for his love of Tampa.
“I was born and raised here," Young said. "So my goal was just to do something cool in our city."
In 2019, he and his business partner, Tim McTague, opened up King State on Floribraska Avenue as a place to get locally made beer, coffee and food. For a while, Young said business was good, even during the pandemic. But when the construction started, he says that changed.
“It didn’t really get awful until November," Young said. "Then it was like, these are the worst few months we’ve had since we opened."
At first, Young thought just a lane or two would close. But then the entire road closed, blocking customers' access to the property.
“It just turned this whole street into a silenced, quiet cul-de-sac,” he said.
That led the owners to take a photo of one of their tables set up in the middle of the empty street, with a post on social media telling their customers they were still there.
“The crews are doing what they have to do, but there seemed to be a lack of care that we were here," Young said. "We felt like we were in their way."
The picture spread on social media and got the attention of city leaders. The owners also went to a city council meeting last week asking for help. Since then, Young said the city has now kept some of the lanes opened.
The city also put up signs to help the business.
“Since we got the word out, it has been incredible, just seeing the support and love of the people that hit us up and showed up,” Young said.
The road work is for the Floribraska Complete Streets Project, which is changing the road from a four-lane road to a two-lane road to improve bicyclist and pedestrian safety. It’s also includes changes to water infrastructure and sidewalks.
“The proposed plans look good,” Young said. “We love the growth. As long as there is a plan to keep a lane open. It was supposed to be an intermittent lane closure, and that has not been the case so far.”
Young said he hopes to hang on until the most intrusive road work is done, which city officials say will be in March. The owners also filed a claim with the city for lost business income.
City leaders, including Mayor Jane Castor, say they told the owners they want to support the business in any way they can.