For the first time in 18 years, Creative Loafing Tampa Bay is locally-owned.
On Thursday afternoon, a group of current employees and two new partners completed the purchase of Tampa Bay’s 39-year-old alt-weekly from San Antonio-based Chava Communications, which has owned the publication since 2023.
The publication’s previous owners—Euclid Media Group (2018-2023), SouthComm Inc. (2011-2018), and the Atalaya hedge fund (2009-2011)—were based in Cleveland, Nashville, and New York, respectively…