Rendering of Live Nation’s new unnamed music venue in Ybor City. Credit: Kettler
Live Nation, the world’s largest concert promotion company that was recently exposed for joking about robbing Tampa concert goers blind, plans to build a new 4,300-capacity music venue in Ybor City.
Real estate developer Kettler says the new yet-to-be named mid-sized venue will be part of the still under construction Gasworx District. It plans to open sometime in 2028, according to a press release.
Details and specifics were not announced, but Kettler says the venue design and construction will be led by TVS Architecture and Interior Design, and Blueprint Studio (Live Nation’s in-house design and development group). The new venue will feature a “vintage-style marque,” a brick facade, and a “second-level balcony inspired by Ybor City’s distinctive architecture.”
The venue’s 4,300 seating capacity would give Live Nation a unique booking space that currently does not exist in Tampa Bay. For example, Yuengling Center and Benchmark International Arena can hold approximately 10,000 and 20,000 respectively. There are also several venues that can hold around a couple thousand, like Ruth Eckerd Hall and Jannus Live. Plus, Carol Morsani Hall at the David A. Straz Center for the Performing Arts holds about 2,600 seats. The Ritz, just a few blocks away from Live Nation’s new spot, can host just about 1,000 concertgoers in its historic space.
Today’s news comes a few months after developers in Water Street Tampa announced plans to build and manage a 3,500-capacity venue across the street from Benchmark. Last December, a rep for that proposed venue told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that Live Nation is not a partner in the financing or ownership of the room, adding that programming will be led by Vinik Sports Group.
No exact address was given, but Ketter said Live Nation’s proposed Ybor City venue will be located near N 15th Street. and “steps from the 7th Avenue entertainment corridor, the Centro Ybor parking garage and a future TECO Streetcar stop along Channelside Drive.”
The company goes on to claim the new venue will provide 440 jobs, will have an $80 million economic impact on the area and create “roughly $6 million each year in state and local tax revenue.” Though it should be noted Kettler provided zero evidence supporting those financial projections.
Live Nation—which operates the MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre six miles away—made headlines last month after text exchanges between the company’s employees were made public during an anti-trust lawsuit, calling customers (specifically in Tampa) “so stupid” and boasted of “robbing them blind, baby” over ticket fees and parking costs.
Today’s announcement comes after local favorite and longtime Ybor City music venue Crowbar (300 person capacity) announced it is being forced out of the area partially due to rising rents.
This morning, Crowbar owner Tom DeGeorge referred to the announcement of the new Live Nation venue as “the ultimate slap in the face” on social media. Crowbar’s lease will expire this July.
This summer’s closure of Crowbar leaves just The Ritz and neighboring Zodiac as the main independent music venues in Ybor City.
DeGeorge, Southeast director for the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), is on a crusade to shine light on the plight of venues like his. As previously reported, NIVA’s recent “State Of Live” report showed that independent venues in Florida rank in the top three across the country in multiple economic measurements related to facilitating off-site tourism, jobs supported, industry jobs, tax revenue, wages paid, and more.
Despite the impact detailed in the report, only 35% of independent stages in Florida identified themselves as profitable in 2024.
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This article appears in Apr. 02 – 08, 2026.
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