Ryan Completes New Facility to End Food Insecurity in the Tampa Bay Region
We’re excited to announce the completion of Feeding Tampa Bay’s new headquarters, a 210,000-square-foot industrial, distribution and office facility dedicated to supplying meals for millions of families facing food insecurity in West Central Florida.
The headquarters is slated to open in May and will allow Feeding Tampa Bay to provide more meals and additional services that will lift the 10 counties that they serve. We served as the design-build firm for the project and contributed 25% of the project fee to support the organization’s progress in ending hunger in the Tampa Bay area.
“For 85 years, Ryan has fostered a lasting, positive influence on the communities it serves through professional and charitable work,” said Doug Dieck, our Southeast region president. “Ryan's Southeast team has had the opportunity to experience the meaningful work Feeding Tampa Bay does for the community through extensive volunteer work in its facilities over the years. We are honored to deliver a new headquarters and distribution space, centralizing Feeding Tampa Bay's operations and contributing to its impact throughout the region.”
The new headquarters will act as the primary distribution facility for the organization and includes 31,000 square feet of cold storage, an 11,000-square-foot kitchen that will serve daily meals and versatile spaces for a food bank and clinic. Feeding Tampa Bay’s decision to partner with Ryan for this project was based on shared values of volunteerism and community dedication in all facets of the firm’s work.
Upon its opening, the project will serve Tampa Bay’s food-insecure families through various distribution programs, such as food pantries, Trinity Café, FRESHforce program, student food-assistance programs, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, FoodRX, disaster relief and additional paths.
“Our multi-purpose Community Center will change the lives of countless neighbors in the communities we call home,” said Thomas Mantz, President and CEO at Feeding Tampa Bay. “Ryan Companies was an indispensable partner in this effort and without whom our vision would not be realized. We're grateful for their entire team who worked closely with us these last few years.”
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 6.4 million households with children under the age of 18 experienced alarming rates of food insecurity in 2023, with 17 million households in the U.S. facing this issue. During the pandemic, the need for food stability grew by 400%. The demand for facilities to accommodate this segment of the Tampa community has become more prominent and the completion of Feeding Tampa Bay’s new headquarters intends to solve this growing issue.
