TAMPA, Fla. — Three new residential buildings under construction at Gasworx in Tampa's historic Ybor City district will carry names that pay tribute to the area's rich multicultural past, honoring everyone from cigar factory workers to port laborers.
KETTLER, the real estate development company behind the urban redevelopment project, announced Monday that the buildings will be named The Luisa, Olivette, and The Stevedore. Each name represents a different aspect of Ybor City's history that helped transform Tampa from a small fishing village in 1880 to a thriving city by 1900.
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"These names connect directly to the people, ships, traditions, and industries that built Ybor City," said Graham Tyrrell, managing director for KETTLER. "They ensure the district grows with authenticity and respect for its roots."
The naming process involved extensive research and collaboration with the Tampa Bay History Center and community partners to ensure historical accuracy and cultural significance.
The Luisa celebrates pioneering female voice
The Luisa, a five-story building with 140 residential units, honors Luisa Capetillo, the only recorded female lector in Ybor's cigar factories. Workers themselves hired lectors to read newspapers, literature, and political works aloud while cigars were hand-rolled in the quiet factories.
"The lector was a very important position for the cigar workers," said Rodney Kite-Powell, historian and curator at the Tampa Bay History Center. "They were really the intellectual leaders of Ybor City."
Capetillo represented a rare female presence in what was almost entirely a male profession. The building is expected to open in the spring of 2027.
Olivette honors Cuban immigration legacy
The 10-story Olivette building, featuring 376 residences, takes its name from a steamship in Henry Plant's fleet that connected Tampa to Havana. The vessel carried thousands of Cuban immigrants whose labor built Ybor's cigar industry.
"It was those ships that brought the people from Cuba and Key West to come to Tampa for the cigar industry," Kite-Powell said.
The steamship's name came from a celebrated European opera, reflecting Plant and his wife's love of French opera. The building is anticipated to open in summer 2027.
The Stevedore recognizes port workers
The Stevedore, expected to open in early 2026, honors the longshoremen who worked Tampa's docks. These workers, predominantly African American men, were crucial to the port's success and Tampa's economic growth.
"The longshoremen were such an important part of our economic growth in Tampa," Kite-Powell said. "The port that was created by downtown Tampa in the early 1900s would not have been successful without the labor of the longshoremen."
The longshoremen's union was powerful enough to secure good wages for workers and even invested in property that now covers part of the Gasworx development. The building will house 390 homes.
Connecting past and future
The three buildings join La Unión Residences & Social Hall, which opened in fall 2024 and was named after the historic La Unión Martí-Maceo, a mutual aid society that served Ybor's Afro-Cuban community.
"It's all about people," Kite-Powell said of the common thread connecting all the building names. "Every one of them relates to people."
The historian emphasized that recognizing this history helps newcomers to Tampa understand the city's deep roots and become more invested in their community.
"When they begin to understand that Tampa wasn't created after air conditioning, and Florida existed in the time before Disney, I think you can get a much better appreciation for the place," Kite-Powell said.
Gasworx is an urban redevelopment project designed as an extension of Ybor City that bridges generations while honoring the district's multicultural heritage.
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