Channel district retail condo back on the market after bakery owner's deal falls through
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Sep 15, 2015

A retail condominium in the Channel district is back on the market after the shopkeeper who was under contract to buy it did not close on the property.

Jeff Podojil, who opened Geoffrey's Floral & Design and Geoffrey's Cuisine by Design in the ground-floor retail space in the Ventana condominium building, was leasing the space and planned to buy it, with a closing date set for August, as the Tampa Bay Business Journal reported in May.

Nick Ganey and Thomas Szarvas, a team of brokers with KW Realty in Tampa, on Tuesday sent out a marketing blast for the property. Ganey confirmed that the property is back on the market because Podojil did not close.

Podojil's lease on the condo - which is 2,567 square feet - expires in December, according to the marketing materials. It is listed at $699,000.

Ganey declined comment on the status of Podojil's business. Podojil was not immediately available for comment Tuesday.

The space was previously home to Le Mouton Noir Bakehouse, a bakery and coffee shop that shuttered in September 2014. The owners of Le Mouton Noir still own the condo; they paid $197,000 for the space in 2011, according to Hillsborough County property records.

Despite an influx of new residents in the Channel district - and more apartment development under way - there are few restaurants and retailers there, though more are starting to pop up. Fabrica Woodfire Pizza opened recently in a storefront in the Pierhouse, and Ginger Beard Coffee has set up shop in the Pour House.

One nearby sale suggests that the market for retail condos is heating up. In June, retail condominiums in downtown Tampa's Skypoint tower sold to a group of investors for $2.7 million or $272 per square foot - a record for retail space in the urban core and identical to the asking price for the Channel district retail condo.