An official ribbon cutting was held on Thursday for Hablo Taco, the first new tenant at Channelside Bay Plaza in five years, according to owner Jeff Vinik.

"This is an indication that we have a lot of changes coming to the Channelside Bay Plaza in the months and years ahead," Vinik said. "As we reactivate what's going to be a great place to gather."

Vinik, the owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning, paid $7.1 million last summer to purchase Channelside from bankruptcy court. Vinik also owns the Tampa Marriott Waterside, the lease to Amalie Arena and more than 25 undeveloped acres in downtown Tampa. The owner plans to spend $1 billion redeveloping his properties over the next decade. Vinik said beginning to turn around Channelside is an important part of the entire district.

"We think this is a great property," he said. "There's great potential here."
 
Mayor Bob Buckhorn was at the ribbon cutting ceremony and said Hablo Taco, that begins serving customers on Monday, will help the plaza rise from the dead.

"To see it now come alive again," he said. "To see the first of what I hope will be many announcements like this, I fully anticipate spending a lot of time with Jeff Vinik."

The thousands of residents who live in the area as well as hockey fans who visit said the new 6,000 square foot taco and tequila lounge is a welcome sight at Channelside.

"I feel like it's starting to come back to life," said Paige Montgomery. "There's going to be a lot of changes going on. I'm pretty excited."

"It's very exciting to have something to do afterwards and before the game and have options to eat," said Ryan Twigg.

Vinik is not ready to announce any future tenants at Channelside but said the next major step for his downtown vision is road realignment that will begin this summer followed by breaking ground on a new USF Medical School by the end of the year.