How real estate investors see downtown Tampa: 'On a scale of 1 to 10, it's a 6.5 to 7. It's real, it's happening'
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Mar 13, 2015

There are two sides to a commercial real estate deal: The hard numbers that determine potential returns and the more emotional side - the story behind a market or property that convinces an investor to buy in.

In downtown Tampa, the story side of the equation is evolving, said Mike Davis, executive director of the capital markets group at Cushman & Wakefield of Florida Inc. Davis represented the seller in the $128 million sale of Tampa City Center in late 2014.

Developments like the waterfront gathering space the David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts unveiled this week and the soon-to-be completed Riverwalk extension help with that story, Davis said, because they create the street-level activity that assures investors there's demand for that area and its commercial properties.

That's why connecting the city's cultural institutions via the Riverwalk could have a major impact on revitalization efforts, as we explore in this week's cover story. Read that story here.

Everything from people walking dogs to local restaurants to a thriving arts scene show the kind of vibrancy investors are looking for. On a scale of one to 10 - 10 being a fully developed, 24/7 urban core - Davis said investors see downtown Tampa at a "6.5 or 7."

"It's real and it's happening," he said.

Five years ago, he'd have put that rating at a 4.

"I think people are buying into the story now that downtown Tampa will become a real downtown," he said. "I'm not saying it's going to be New York City or anything, but people can now touch it and feel it. It's not just a promise. It's really there."

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