Harbour Island is an island neighborhood within the city limits of Tampa, Florida and the sub-district within Downtown Tampa. Harbour Island is situated adjacent to downtown across the Garrison Channel. Other nearby areas include Davis Islands and Channelside. The Tampa Convention Center is located directly across the Harbour Island Bridge and Channelside is just across Beneficial Drive, both walking distance. Harbour Island was originally known as Seddon Island, which was named after W. L. Seddon, chief engineer for the Seaboard Air Line railroad. In 1906, a public hearing was held to plan a new port for the city. Seddon’s plans were adopted and soon his company dredged a channel and established a port facility on Grassy Island. The 177 acre island was later purchased from the Seaboard Coast Line in 1979 for residential, office and retail development purposes. The first phase of development did not begin until 1985. Between 1985 and January 1999, Harbour Island was linked to Downtown Tampa by the Harbour Island People Mover, an automated tram shuttle system that ran on an elevated concrete trackway connecting the Harbor Island shopping center to the Franklin Street parking garage a mile and a half away. Today, the island consists of mostly exclusive residential areas, with high-end hotels, nightclubs and cafes at the northernmost strip. The TECO Streetcar “In-Town” trolley connects the island to downtown and Channelside. NEVs also connect the island to other core neighborhoods such as Hyde Park.
The was probably FMG’s first mixed use project back in 1983. FMG developed the environmental; graphics standards for the island, office, hotel, retail and residential areas.