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New life for Sanchez Y Haya building
FOX 13's Evan Axelbank reports.
YBOR CITY, Fla. - What's old is going to be new again in Ybor City.
The backstory:
The historic Sanchez y Haya building took the next step on its way to fulfilling its historic mission.
MORE NEWS: Is the historic Sanchez Y Haya building actually in Ybor City? One city map says no
Decades after it fell into disrepair, the J.C. Newman Cigar Company is leading its resurgence to reclaim its past.
What they're saying:
Christian Klein is the great-great-grandson of Serafin Sanchez, the man whose name adorns the front of the building, more than a century after it was built.
"This all had to be done by hand by a lot of people," Klein said during an interview on Tuesday. "A lot a love went into this building."
Serafin Sanchez was the namesake of the Sanchez y Haya real estate company.
They spearheaded the hotel in 1910, which was often used by workers at the cigar factory across the street.
"When I came by and saw it, and you actually see the name on the front marquee, that's important," Klein said.
J.C. Newman Cigar Company owns the factory now.
The historic building has been stripped and steadied and also ridden of an infestation of bats. Now, it’s being retrofitted to be a hotel and cigar center.
"We realized that if we didn't try to go in and save it and restore it and preserve this piece of Tampa's history," J.C. Newman Cigar Company Owner Drew Newman said, "nobody else could or would."
J.C. Newman Cigar Company broke ground Tuesday on the final phase of the restoration, which will take another year.
Big picture view:
They'll leave behind the building's history of being a speakeasy, grocery store, bar, and site of too many robberies, shootings and drug deals to count.
It'll enter its relatively boring, but wholesome era.
"Our only goal for this project is to bring the Sanchez y Haya building back to life so that it looks, and it feels, and it smells just like it did when it opened 115 years ago," Newman said.
What's next:
After receiving $600,000 from Hillsborough County's preservation board, and $5 million from the Tampa CRA, the $18 million project was helped along with 1,400 bags of concrete.
"The fact that they're using it for what it was meant to be used for, I think that's why it's significant," Klein said.
The building will include a hotel and gift shop. It is expected to open in November 2026.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by J.C. Newman Cigar Company and the family of Serafin Sanchez, the namesake of the Sanchez y Haya real estate company.