Tampa firm to redevelop former Baymont Inn, Arigato Steak House site near Westfield Countryside mall
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Apr 23, 2015

A Tampa developer is negotiating with national tenants for a redevelopment play on a prime corner in Clearwater.

WPG Inc. paid $5.25 million for the 3.36-acre site on the southwest corner of U.S. Highway 19 and Countryside Boulevard, across the street from Westfield Countryside Mall, a WPG spokeswoman said Thursday.

The site is home to Baymont Inn & Suites Hotel and Arigato Japanese Steakhouse, neither of which are still operating, WPG said.

"We're currently working with a handful of national tenants on a redevelopment plan," Sarah Liakos, vice president of operations for WPG, wrote in an email. WPG, she said, is not yet ready to disclose specifics of the plan.

The developer's willingness to close on the site without having secured tenants is a testament to the retail market - its signals that WPG has a great deal of confidence in that market.

There's a dearth of quality retail space throughout Tampa Bay, and another redevelopment in the immediate area of WPG's recent buy has been successful: The conversion of a portion of the Sears anchor box in the Countryside mall into a Whole Foods Market.

WPG is also working on another redevelopment in a prime corner: The intersection of South Dale Mabry Highway and West Estrella Street in South Tampa, where it is planning to redevelop the former Palma Ceia Liquors site into restaurant and retail space.

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