Michael Disser used to live in Parkland Estates, and he had storm damage near Audubon and Swann avenues. He sold that house to buy more commercial property on South Howard Avenue. At the Sept. 17 City Council meeting he put his SoHo real estate at about $24 million and said his businesses employ 162 people. One of those businesses, Howard & Platt, had opened about two months earlier.
At that meeting the council voted 4-3 to approve the $100.4 million South Howard Flood Relief and Streetscape Project. Construction is now scheduled to move through the corridor until 2030. This year's newest SoHo dining rooms were built by operators who said in public that the dig could cost them their regulars. Every one of those openings is a bet that Hyde Park's dinner routine lasts longer than the barricades.
Three Rooms Rebuilt in One Year
Most of the 2026 activity on South Howard came from owners already on the street. They rebuilt or renamed addresses they already held.
| Restaurant | Address | Operator | What happened | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Landon | 717 S. Howard Ave. | Michael Stewart, owner of AVA across the street | Rebuilt a space that had been dark since a 2024 fire | Opened March 23 |
| Howard & Platt | 301 S. Howard Ave. | Disser Hospitality Investments and partners | New concept in the former T.C. Choy's Asian Bistro building | Open by late July, brunch from Aug. 1 |
| Meeting House | 901 S. Howard Ave. | Ciccio Restaurant Group | Rebrand of Daily Eats after about two decades | Serving since Aug. 20 |
Stewart could have moved after the fire. He rebuilt at the same address and named the restaurant after his son, so The Landon and AVA, which carries his daughter's name, now face each other on the same block. Disser's group also turned a bar into Good Luck Chuck's, a themed spot that opened in May after a rebrand, and it holds part ownership in Sunset Rodeo on the same street. Its marketing head told the Tampa Bay Times the goal is an "entertainment district" with "a little something for everyone."
The Same Owners Spoke at the Vote
On Sept. 17, the people who had just opened these rooms told the council what they expected construction to do to them. Anthony Chicklowski spoke for Ciccio Restaurant Group, the company behind Meeting House. He said its South Howard businesses employ about 600 people and have operated on the street for roughly 30 years. Stewart has run restaurants on South Howard for 20 years. He spoke about where traffic would go, pointing to the Selmon Expressway, the rail tracks, the one-way streets and the dead ends that already limit routes through the area.
David Laxer of Bern's Steak House connected nearly 300 jobs to the corridor. By his own estimate, tipped and hourly workers could lose 25% to 50% of their income during construction. He said his bigger worry was what comes after:
"Our customers will develop new dining patterns and group business will settle into other restaurants, other hotels, and those years of goodwill will be lost."
Disser described the corridor as one connected outing. Guests at Epicurean, Bern's or AVA "trickle up the street to my businesses." All three new restaurants depend on that walk, and the project will interrupt it in sections.
How the Dig Is Meant to Move
The city's plan avoids opening the whole street at once. Here is the schedule as the Sept. 17 coverage reported it. Treat it as a projection. The CSX permit for a new 60-inch pipe under the railroad tracks was still pending at the time of the vote.
- November 2026. Utility relocation is expected to start.
- Spring 2027. Major drainage work begins near Bayshore Boulevard. A box culvert about 10 feet wide and 10 feet tall will run north under South Howard to Swann Avenue, then west toward Audubon Avenue.
- Through 2030. Crews work in 24 zones of roughly 400 to 600 feet each. Each finished section is restored and reopened as the work moves north.
Within those phases, the project FAQ lists a few figures that will shape everyday trips:
- Active construction hours run 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. Weekend and night work happens only when needed.
- Both southbound lanes of Bayshore Boulevard close for about 8 to 10 weeks. During that time one northbound lane carries southbound traffic, so each direction has one lane.
- An individual driveway could be blocked for 5 to 7 weeks. Planned workarounds include temporary driveways and walkways and an off-site parking area with 24/7 security and a golf cart shuttle.
The construction hours matter for the dining calendar. Under the FAQ's schedule, Friday and Saturday nights and weekend brunch fall outside the normal work window. Weekday lunch and the after-work hour fall inside it.
What the New Menus Already Account For
Each of the three new rooms comes with features that fit a street under construction, whatever the owners had in mind when they designed them.
Meeting House is the plainest example. Brunetti, Ciccio Restaurant Group's operations director, told the Times that weekday breakfast "is no longer a reliable business." The rebrand dropped Daily Eats' breakfast model for weekday lunch and dinner from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., plus weekend brunch from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The restaurant also has a takeout window for call-ahead grab-and-go orders and a weekday "hungry hour" from 3 to 5 p.m., when the gluten-free chicken tenders from the closed Better Byrd concept cost $5. The Cap'N Crunch shake and Cap'N Crunch French toast stayed on the menu. About 75% of the back-of-house team moved over from Daily Eats.
Howard & Platt has its own parking lot and a large patio that wraps around the corner of the building. It serves dinner plus weekend brunch, with dishes like steak and eggs with chimichurri butter and a Boston cream French toast. Executive chef Josue Gaston previously ran the kitchen at Boulon and was most recently a sous chef at Ocean Prime.
The Landon has two private dining rooms for groups and business dinners. Group bookings are the kind of business Laxer said could move elsewhere. Chef Robert Hesse, who appeared on Hell's Kitchen, runs an elevated American menu with global influences. The bar now opens directly onto Howard Avenue.
The City's Side of the Bargain
The city's Business Assistance Plan answers the habit concern directly. Kimmins will have a four-person team that works with merchants on access and deliveries. Signs will point drivers to businesses along the route, and pedestrian paths will stay open through active work areas. The city is also running a campaign called SohOPEN on social media, billboards and other advertising. Its message is that South Howard businesses stay open during construction. Before work starts, buildings along the route will be photographed and documented. An independent firm will monitor vibration.
At the end, the street the restaurants reopen onto will look different. Plans call for 10-foot sidewalks, better street lighting, more landscaping and a larger tree canopy. Overhead power and communication lines along South Howard will go underground.
Nearby This Fall
The Hyde Park Village calendar is unaffected by the November start, and several dates are already set:
- Pumpkin Patch, Oct. 10–25 on Village Circle. Pumpkin sales benefit the Humane Society of Tampa Bay.
- Hyde Park Pet Parade, Saturday, Oct. 24.
- Holiday Happening, Nov. 19 from 5:30 to 8 p.m., with a tree lighting at 7:45, live music, a Tampa City Ballet performance and Santa.
The Village's retail lineup has grown this year as well. LoveShackFancy opened its first Tampa Bay boutique at 1619 W. Snow Ave. on July 10, and Ralph Lauren is open nearby at 1609 W. Snow Ave. Hill House Home and Rifle Paper Co. are both aiming for fall 2026. Hermès has announced an 8,030-square-foot, two-story boutique expected in 2027.
On South Howard, the first utility crews are expected in November. The Landon, Howard & Platt and Meeting House are all serving now.
If you own a home near the South Howard corridor and want to know how four years of rolling construction might factor into your plans, The Fate Team can walk you through it using the city's published schedule, block by block. Request your home valuation and we'll start with the street you live on.
