Proposed 250-foot observation wheel could bring sweeping views of downtown Tampa

TAMPA, Fla. - Observation wheels are in Las Vegas, Japan, Orlando, Dubai and now Tampa could get its own version in Channelside.

The backstory:

Developer Tony Miller is on a mission to bring the observation wheel to downtown Tampa, calling it "Tampa WOW!" or "Wheel Over Water."

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"Every time I go up in a building, I go to the window, and I spend five minutes just gawking around at the view. I think it will be great for particularly families to have an activity to do downtown and one that I think kids are going to really love. Parents are going love," Miller said. "If you look, and you get up to 250 feet, you're going to be able to see the Hillsborough Bay, the Tampa Bay, Bayshore, you're going to be able to see Davis Island. There's the whole downtown area."

Tampa WOW! is currently a proposal, all of it privately funded. Renderings show it would go up in the parking lot across from the cruise port by the trolley stop, next to the Florida Aquarium.

"These observation wheels are much more significant than a Ferris wheel. A Ferris wheel is meant to put up at a state park, take it down, and go. This is a permanent structure. It is something that is engineered to be rated for the hurricane," said Miller.

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Dig deeper:

A 20- or 30-minute ride in the gondola could change your perspective and the city skyline.

"Think of what cruise passengers will see when they drive to Tampa to take a cruise ship, and now this thing is there, this beautiful thing and they’re like wow that’s pretty cool," said Santiago Corrada, the president and CEO of Visit Tampa Bay. "In our business, everyone’s looking for the new thing, right? Conventions, tourists, leisure travelers, business travelers, what’s happening in Tampa? What’s new? What’s changed since the last time we were here?"

Tourism leaders like Corrada said the wheel would add to Tampa’s evolution from Water Street to the Riverwalk and more.

"Look at the game changer the JW Marriott has been, or the Tampa Edition or the Pendry. There’s private money being invested in our city," said Corrada. "Having something like this puts us in the same category with Atlanta and Chicago and Orlando and many other cities, Long Beach, that have added these wheels to their entertainment areas, to their downtown areas."

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Miller said the project, privately funded by his organization Tampa Bay Wheel, has the support of downtown stakeholders, especially the Florida Aquarium and Visit Tampa Bay. It potentially adds another activity downtown with a 250-foot overview of the city.

"We think the vast majority of people that are going to take a ride on the wheel, they're already down here for another purpose. So they're already sourcing their parking because they're going to go to a hockey game. They're going to be down here at Water Street for dinner. They're already going to be in town for a convention. They're going to the aquarium," said Miller. 

What's next:

Tampa City Council must first sign off on the project. The proposal goes before council members on October 9 and then again on October 23 for two public hearings, Miller said.

If it’s approved, the developer said they plan to open sometime in fall 2026.