Armando Mendez in his book Ciudad de Cigars: West Tampa states that Y. Pendas & Alvarez Co. is credited as being the first company in the US to manufacture Clear Havana Cigars exclusively and in 1882 of being the biggest cigar manufacturer in the US with total production of twenty nine million cigars that year.  However, as shown below, the company was originally named Lozano, Pendas & Co., it was not until 1894 that the name was changed to Y. Pendas & Alvarez Co.

Ysidro Pendas Garcia (1844-1902) was a Spanish immigrant from the village of Priero in Asturias who emigrated to Cuba in 1860 and learned the cigar business there while working at La Sultana factory.  Miguel Alvarez (1847-1918) was also a Spanish immigrant from Asturias who like Pendas, had learned the cigar business while working at La Sultana factory in Cuba.  In January 1864 Pendas left Cuba for New York City when he decided to venture into the cigar business in the US.  It appears Alvarez also left Cuba for New York around the same time.

The book The Eagle and Brooklyn published in 1892 includes a review of Ysidro Pendas Garcia in its Men of the Time section.  Therein it is stated that

"In 1867 with Faustino Lozano and Miguel Alvarez he formed the firm Lozano, Pendas & Co., Pendas being the business name of Mr. Garcia.  Beginning in Brooklyn and continuing in New York, the house made successive advances in prosperity, the opportunities and requirements of its business finally leading to the establishment of a branch at Key West, Florida which was subsequently transferred to Tampa, where there is now a large plant, built and owned by the firm."

Ysidro's brother Enrique Pendas Garcia (1846- ) and nephew  Enrique Pendas Trelles (1865-1935) son of Manuel Pendas Garcia, as well as Faustino Lozano and members of the Alvarez family were also involved in the business.  The Enrique Pendas Trelles life history available at the Library of Congress states that he was born in Asturias and went to Cuba at a very young age and then moved to New York.  The document typed in first person by Enrique, states “Just before establishing our factory in Tampa, I went to Key West and remained there for eight months.  Our factory, Lozano Pendas & Co. was finally established here on May 15th, 1887 when I was 22 years of age. I remember that when I established the factory here, I gave employment to nearly all the workers of Sanchez & Haya.”

Other family member that formed part of the company during its early days were Enrique Pendas Trelles brother Jaime Pendas Trelles (1863-1936) and Anastacio Alvarez the brother of Miguel Alvarez was also a member of the company .  Another brother of Enrique, Alfredo Pendas Trelles (1882-1944) does not appear to have been a member of the company but was involved in the tobacco business.  He was a resident of Puerto Rico at the time of his death in New York City.

In 1894 Faustino Lozano sold his interests in Lozano, Pendas & Co. and retired from the cigar manufacturing business.  He then established a tobacco leaf business together with a Mr. Selgas.  In 1905 Faustino returned to the cigar manufacturing business when together with his sons Faustino C. and Jose Maria he established F. Lozano, Son & Co.  ​When Faustino sold his interest in Lozano, Pendas & Co. in 1894, the firm name was changed to Y. Pendas, Alvarez & Co. 

Lozano, Pendas & Co. factory building in Ybor City was established in 1887 at 10th Avenue & 15th Street, near the Cyrilla factory building in a facility offered as a relocation incentive by the Tampa Board of Trade.  By June 1895 they had outgrown that facility and constructed a new three story building at 1416 Spring Street, east of the Hillsborough River in what today is the Tampa Downtown area.  In just a few years the Spring Street facility was also outgrown. Planning for a new factory building began and was concluded in 1909 when Architect Fred J. James (1870-1932) released the plans for this 41,953 sq. ft. building at 2301 Frances Ave, now N Albany Ave. in West Tampa, that could accommodate seven hundred workers.  Construction was completed in 1910 but shortly thereafter it had to close operations due to the six month long general cigar strike of 1910.  Operations were resumed here in January 1911 when the strike was settled.

Ysidro Pendas and Miguel Alvarez were married to two sisters of Irish descent Elizabeth Mary and Julia Hogan respectively.  Ysidro, who had three sons and six daughters died unexpectedly on September 12, 1902 shortly after returning from a trip to Spain and is buried in Brooklyn.  Miguel Alvarez retired shortly after Ysidro's death.  The company was then managed by a second family generation comprised of Miguel Alvarez son John and Ysidro Pendas sons Ysidro Jr. (1876-1934), José M. and Manuel, who were all cousins themselves.

Y. Pendas & Alvarez Co. ceased to operate in 1918 upon the death of Miguel Alvarez on December 11,1918 and the death of the company's bookkeeper, C. H. King shortly thereafter.  On May 20, 1920 this factory building was acquired by E. Regensburg & Sons who operated here until 1933 when they closed after a general cigar workers strike.  ​In 1921, all rights to the Webster brand, Y. Pendas & Alvarez Co.'s main brand, were acquired by the Webster Cigar Company of Detroit, MI. 

This building has eight foot dial clocks on four sides of its octagonal 120 feet high seven-story tower.  A similar tower is currently only found on two other cigar factory buildings, one of which, the Samuel I. Davis factory building is of a similar design.  The Hillsborough Box Company bought the property in 1946, was for several years occupied by Tampa Tarp Inc. and Florida Umbrella Co.

This article in the August 8, 2021 Tampa Bay Times states that the building is now being leased to the Boscaino family who will restore the structure to house their wine business, with a wine bar and pizza parlor on the first floor, an Italian market on the second and an event or office space.