Former Kmart box in Westshore under contract to new retailer
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Apr 21, 2015

A new retailer plans to take over a dark box in Westshore.

The former Kmart store at 2915 North Dale Mabry Highway is under contract to be sold, said Patrick Berman, senior director of retail brokerage at Cushman & Wakefield of Florida. Berman was a speaker at the Westshore Alliance's annual development forum Tuesday morning.

Berman told the audience that the seller wasn't willing to disclose the buyer, but it's likely one of two scouting for space in Westshore: Academy Sports, which is searching for sites throughout the city, or At Home, the housewares and decor retailer formerly known as Garden Ridge.

The vacant Kmart box is "such a rare commodity" in Westshore, Berman said, where retail real estate is 98 percent leased. There's almost no vacant space, let alone vacant big boxes.

By every metric, Berman said, Westshore is by far the region's strongest retail market. It commands a 12 percent premium over the rest of the region, with rents at $18.37 per square foot. Sales per square foot are 37 percent higher than the rest of the market, Berman said.

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