Mystery company could bring huge office development, thousands of jobs to Tampa Bay
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Apr 30, 2015

A mystery company is looking for sites in Tampa Bay that could accommodate half a million square feet of office space and potentially bring thousands of jobs to the region.

Real estate sources, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the deal, said an economic development consultant representing the company has been in touch with brokers and developers throughout Tampa Bay. The consultant has visited the region and has engaged with the Tampa-Hillsborough Economic Development Corp.

Rick Homans, president and CEO of the EDC, declined comment Thursday.

Tampa Bay is one of several markets in the running for the deal, sources say, and the company is looking to make a decision within the next few months. The identity of the company and its industry aren't known.

Office market experts estimate one employee represents about 200 square feet of space on average - and high density operations like call centers usually allot far less space for each individual. At 200 square feet per employee, the mystery company could represent 2,500 jobs ­- likely more, as most companies on the move today are shrinking the size of individual workspace.

It's not known how many of those would be new jobs and how many could be relocated from other cities.

If the company wanted to be in the region's primary business districts - downtown Tampa or Westshore - its options would be limited. There are few sites in either area that could accommodate a user of that size. The most prominent potential office site right now is in Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik's billion-dollar development plans in downtown Tampa, which call for more than 1 million square feet of office space.

But it's not known whether the mystery company is a headquarters relocation, and Vinik's real estate executives have said that attracting high-paying, front-office jobs is a top priority for the urban district.

A Lightning spokesman declined comment Thursday.

Another potential site could be Echelon City Center, a 2.8-million-square-foot mixed-use development planned for St. Petersburg's Carillon. Echelon City Center is slated to include 500,000 square feet of office space in two 20-story towers.

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