Bowen Yard's Expansion Is Moving Fast. Here's What We Know.
Downtown Winter Haven is about to get four more spots at Bowen Yard.
Bowen Yard opened in 2023 as a six-restaurant, open-air food hall developed by Six/Ten LLC. It quickly became one of downtown's anchor destinations.
Six/Ten announced plans to expand across the street back in mid-2025, describing it as a second phase that would nearly double the food hall's footprint.
That original plan also included a new city park going in on the drainage ditch between the two sites.
Bowen Yard West is that expansion, and it just took a real step forward.
The Polk Squeeze pulled the CRA Board's agenda packet from Monday's meeting, including the developer's agreement, the TIF application, and the staff fact sheet.
Image Credit: Graphic Rendering Created by Six/Ten LLC
Here's what's coming, and how it's getting funded.
The project turns four currently vacant buildings on 5th Street SW into new destinations: the Dameron, Roberts North, Roberts South, and Finny buildings. They'd be renovated into retail, food and beverage, and service space, ranging from about 1,250 to 5,350 square feet each.
Total estimated project cost: $2,605,532.
Construction is expected to start this fall, with a six-month build timeline.
To help close the gap on a project this size, Six/Ten, led by CEO Bud Strang, applied under Winter Haven's Commercial Redevelopment incentive.
That program lets the CRA rebate 50% of a project's tax increment for 10 years, as long as the project raises the site's taxable value by at least 100%. Bowen Yard West clears that bar easily: post-renovation, the four buildings are appraised at $8,232,490, up from a current assessed value of $1,197,045.
Over 10 years, that works out to an estimated $480,526 in rebates, or about $48,000 a year.
Importantly, that money comes entirely out of new tax revenue the project itself generates. It's not existing city funds, it's a share of the growth the project creates.
Six/Ten is also putting up its own land for the public good.
As part of the deal, the developer would donate the land needed for 17 new public parking spaces along 5th Street SW (14 angled, 3 parallel) plus a new sidewalk, then build them and hand them over to the city by warranty deed.
In exchange, the city would reimburse Six/Ten for construction costs, capped at $151,200, or $8,894.12 per space, once the work is done and verified.
Six/Ten's other projects include the Beymer Building, the Mann Building, and the Inland Fiber & Data Park.
Whitehead Construction, a third-generation Winter Haven general contractor, is expected to build this project, though that hasn't been finalized.
The numbers make a strong case for the deal. Six/Ten's own application projects the finished project will generate roughly $883,000 in total tax revenue across all taxing authorities over 10 years, versus about $356,000 if the buildings stay vacant.
The application also estimates 50+ jobs once complete.
City staff and the people closest to the deal clearly agree it's a good one.
The Downtown CRA Advisory Committee unanimously recommended approval on August 17, and City staff recommended the CRA Board approve the agreement at Monday's meeting too.
Per the staff fact sheet, the tax rebate has no direct budget impact, since it comes from new revenue the project creates.
The parking reimbursement would be paid out of the Downtown CRA's existing Economic Development line item.
We found this by pulling the CRA Board's August 24 agenda packet directly, including the developer's agreement, the TIF application, and the staff fact sheet.
Have a tip about something coming to Polk County? Email us at [email protected]
Sources: City of Winter Haven CRA Board agenda packet, August 24, 2026; Developer's Agreement between the City of Winter Haven, Winter Haven CRA, and Six/Ten LLC; Bowen Yard West CRA Development Incentive Application
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