A new episode of the Discovery Channel show, Mysteries of the Abandoned: Hidden America, profiles J.C. Newman’s restoration of the Sanchez y Haya Real Estate Company building in Tampa’s Ybor City historic cigar district. The episode can be streamed for free here (J.C. Newman’s segment begins at 22:30).
A few months after J.C. Newman’s iconic El Reloj cigar factory opened in 1910, Sanchez y Haya constructed a two-story building across the street to serve the factory and its cigar workers, visitors, and neighbors. A century ago, the second floor was a small hotel, and a restaurant and bar were on the first floor. In the years that followed, the building was home to a grocery store, distillery, brewery, speakeasy during Prohibition, and lots of criminal activity. Sadly, the building has been abandoned and neglected for decades.
J.C. Newman is in the midst of restoring the Sanchez y Haya building. When the project is complete in two years, the building will look and feel like it did in 1910, with a small hotel on the second floor and a café and cigar lounge on the first floor. This project is part of the Newman Family’s efforts to expand the El Reloj District, which has become the premier destination for cigar tourism.
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