Parkway closes on Corporate Center buildings in Tampa's Westshore for $238M
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Dec 9, 2014

It's official: Parkway Properties Inc. has closed on Corporate Center I, II and III for $238 million or $244 per square foot.

The Orlando-based real estate investment trust said Tuesday that it had closed on the buildings, which are near

International Plaza in Tampa's Westshore district. When known, near-term moveouts are accounted for, the three buildings are 71 percent occupied.

The buildings were part of a 22-building, $475 million portfolio deal, though Parkway sold the other 19 for a gross sale price of $237 million. Parkway announced in September that it was under contract to acquire the assets and would spin off the others, which don't fit in with its investment strategy.

The deal has created a buzz in the commercial real estate community because Parkway will offer the attention and capital the buildings need, and the buildings offer something Tampa desperately needs: Large blocks of top-tier modern office space that are ready for occupancy. The seller - New York-based Interventure Capital Group, a family trust for the family of Prince Abdul Aziz bin Fahd of Saudi Arabia - has not been a very present landlord, by most accounts around the brokerage community.

The Tampa Bay Business Journal was first to report that the buildings were on the market as part of a giant portfolio deal in July.

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