Citing quarter after quarter of red ink, Sembler Co. and Steiner+Associates are bailing out of the four-year-old Centro Ybor retail/entertainment complex.

The remaining partner, German-based real estate investment trust BVT, has an interesting idea for shaking Centro out of its doldrums:

“We think a brew pub [Tampa Bay Brewing Co., relocating from down the street] will energize the project and our tenants business there,” said Kip Marshall, president of BVT Asset Management’s U.S. operation in Atlanta. “This project has been a challenge, but we are in it for the long haul.”

The brew pub was not targeted just to fill a hole, Marshall said, but to add a proven draw from the neighborhood rather than import something from somewhere else.

Right. The prospect of grabbing a beer should have people pouring onto Centro’s walkways. Because God knows, it’s so hard to get a drink anywhere else on Seventh Avenue and beyond.

This is a classic example of an absentee landlord having no clue about the surrounding property. Has anyone who matters at BVT ever set foot in Ybor City on a weekend night? Holing up in Centro’s little cocoon appeals only to the type of people who don’t like going out to a raucous area like Ybor City in the first place. Putting a pub where there are a thousand others within easy walking distance isn’t going to do jack.