Tampa adds 100 hurricane-resistant Hope Cottages at Tampa Hope campus

Tampa’s latest expansion at Tampa Hope is less about novelty than proof of concept: 100 new Hope Cottages pushed the campus to 215 total units and showed how a tiny-home shelter model can be hardened, refined, and repeated. The new cottages are 70 square feet each, up from 64 square feet in the original units, and the city said they were designed with upgraded insulation, interior wall panels, and a newer HVAC system to improve comfort.

The bigger change may be resilience. Tampa said the cottages can withstand Category 5 hurricane-force winds, a crucial upgrade in a city where shelter design has to answer to Florida weather as much as homelessness policy. The city also said feedback from people who had already lived in Hope Cottages shaped the redesign, giving the new batch a practical edge that many emergency shelter projects never reach.

The 2026 expansion raises Tampa Hope’s cottage inventory enough to house 236 people in cottages alone, because some units are double occupancy. With 116 single-occupancy tents still on the campus, Tampa Hope can now shelter more than 352 people. Each cottage costs about $25,000, and the City of Tampa put $1.2 million into the project.

Mayor Jane Castor has framed the effort as a way to provide dignified, safe shelter while moving more people toward stability, services, and a fresh start. Catholic Charities Executive Director Maggie Rogers said Tampa Hope has grown from sheltering 100 neighbors to nearly 350, with plans to expand beyond 400. That growth gives the project a stronger record than a one-off pilot, especially as Tampa continues to invest in permanent features around the site.

The campus itself has been evolving since the city and Catholic Charities first opened Hillsborough Hope on Florida Avenue in March 2020 as a 100-tent temporary site. That 60-day effort served 210 people and helped 97 people move into housing in two months, leading the city to seek a permanent version of the model. Tampa Hope opened in December 2021 on East 3rd Avenue, later added the first 100 Hope Cottages in April 2023, and in June 2024 broke ground on the $1.5 million Matthew 25 Community Center with a kitchen, dining area, showers, restrooms, a salon, and a laundry room.

By January 2025, the city said Tampa Hope had become the first homeless shelter in America to offer on-site CareStation health care. By September 2025, Tampa Hope had served more than 1,550 clients and placed 563 people in housing after their stay. The new cottages build on that track record and show Tampa treating tiny shelters not as temporary improvisation, but as a repeatable piece of housing infrastructure.