When the land was dirt and weeds, Tampa Housing Authority officials envisioned a future "city within a city."
The site — formerly a public housing complex just north of downtown called Central Park Village — would be transformed, they said, from barren acreage into Encore, a mixed-income community with a bustling commercial and retail district. There would be apartments for seniors and families, offices, a grocery store, a hotel, a black history museum and maybe a high-rise condominium...