Developer closes on Seminole Heights warehouse slated to be converted to apartments
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Dec 3, 2014

The Tampa developer planning to convert an old warehouse in Seminole Heights into apartments has closed on the property.

Wesley Burdette paid $920,000 for the warehouse at 4513 Florida Ave., next door to Nico's Fine Foods, in a deal that was finalized Wednesday afternoon. Click here to see inside the warehouse.

Burdette is planning to develop 46 loft-style apartments on the property, ranging in size from 475 to 1,224 square feet, a project slated to cost $5.5 million to $6 million.

He said he is planning to file his plans with the city before Christmas, hoping to get comments back by year end or in early January and begin construction by the end of January.

Burdette is the equity investor, putting down $1.5 million, and has secured a construction loan from Sunshine State Bank for the remainder of the costs. He said he spoke with at least 10 Tampa banks that were unwilling to tackle the project.

Most bankers liked the idea, he said, but at the end of the day saw the neighborhood as too risky.

Ashley Gurbal Kritzer is a reporter for the Tampa Bay Business Journal.