A car wash that has sat on Nebraska Avenue since 1964 is about to disappear, and in its place will rise a 20-unit affordable housing development called The Vicente. Developer Urban ReWorx plans to break ground on September 2 at 2914 N. Nebraska Ave., just north of downtown Tampa in the historic V.M. Ybor district, with the existing car wash slated for demolition to clear the 0.31-acre site.
The project is funded by roughly $4.5 million in combined public and private contributions, according to Florida YIMBY, which reported that the City of Tampa contributed $750,000 and the East Tampa Community Redevelopment Agency kicked in $3.5 million, with private equity covering the remainder. The outlet also reported that Tampa Bay council members may allocate additional funds to the project at a later date. The Vicente will include 16 one-bedroom units and four two-bedroom units, along with ground-floor retail space, for a total of 20 residences.
Supporters described the project as a lifeline for people struggling with housing insecurity in the region, per the same outlet's reporting. Units will target households earning up to 80% of the area median income — in Hillsborough County, where median income sits at $104,700, that threshold works out to roughly $84,000 a year for a four-person household, according to FOX 13 Tampa Bay.
A Contentious Path to Public Funding
Getting the project's public money wasn't simple. In July 2025, Tampa City Council members acting as the Community Redevelopment Agency approved $3.5 million for the project in a 5-2 vote that came only after five rounds of voting, according to the Tampa Bay Times. That figure was scaled back from Urban ReWorx's original $5 million ask, as council members weighed concerns about depleting funds needed for other East Tampa redevelopment projects; council members Miranda and Clendenin voted against the deal over those funding trade-offs, the newspaper reported.
Public real estate records show the 2914 N. Nebraska Ave. parcel was purchased in August 2025 for $750,600, shortly after the city's funding approval, according to Compass Real Estate transaction records. Under city CRA housing subsidy guidelines updated in late 2025, midsize affordable developments receiving municipal funding must maintain deed-restricted affordability for a minimum of 50 years, according to minutes from the City of Tampa Housing & Community Development department. For fiscal year 2025-2026, the East Tampa CRA allocated 46% of its budget — $6.75 million — toward affordable housing creation, with individual CRA awards capped at $350,000 per affordable unit, per the same city document.
Preserving V.M. Ybor's Historic Character
The Vicente was designed by architecture firm Mancini Duffy and approved by Tampa's Barrio Latino Commission, which reviews development in V.M. Ybor to ensure new construction respects the historic district's architectural character, according to Urban ReWorx. The developer, led by founders Thaddeus Bereday and Miguel Gonzalez, tapped project management firm InVision Advisors as Owner's Representative to oversee construction risk, schedule, and budget heading into next month's groundbreaking, per InVision Advisors' Facebook page.
The site's own history stretches back decades. The car wash being demolished was originally known as Magic Spray Car Wash, founded in 1965 by the Suarez family and operated across three generations before becoming Island Shine Auto Wash, according to Island Shine Auto Wash. Florida YIMBY separately reported the car wash structure itself was built in 1964.
Part of a Broader Regional Housing Push
The Vicente arrives amid what city officials describe as an acute housing shortage. A City of Tampa housing assessment presented in 2025 found the city faces a deficit of over 26,000 affordable housing units as median rents rose 49.9% between 2020 and 2025, according to reporting from Local News in Florida. A January 2026 regional report titled “The Housing Equation” from the Tampa Bay Partnership found an 80,650-unit shortage of homes affordable to households earning up to 80% of area median income across Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco counties, with 52% of Tampa Bay renters spending over 30% of their income on housing.
The Vicente joins a wave of similar East Tampa CRA-backed projects that Hoodline has tracked in recent months, including the $5 million Williams Brown Legacy Housing Project on 34th Street and the 10-unit Casa Maceo development in neighboring Ybor City. Groundbreaking on The Vicente is set for September 2, with the car wash's demolition marking the first visible step toward the 20 new homes planned for the corner of Nebraska Avenue.
