5 blockbuster deals for downtown Tampa in 2015
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Dec 28, 2015

It was another banner year for downtown Tampa: Development projects on the books for years started to take shape and new ones were proposed, creating momentum for 2016 and beyond.

"In all of my career, I've never seen so much enthusiasm, activity and positive momentum in downtown Tampa," said Larry Richey, the Tampa-based Florida market leader for Cushman & Wakefield of Florida Inc.

At the center of it all, Richey said, is Strategic Property Partners' plans for the urban core. SPP, the real estate company controlled by Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik and Cascade Investment LLC, is planning a $2 billion mixed-use district between the Channel district and central business district.

But while SPP's plans are creating a buzz around the city, there are deals happening independent of that development.

Here, a look back at the most significant deals of the year in downtown Tampa:

Tampa Tribune redevelopment: The Tampa Bay Business Journal was first to report, on April 17, that Miami-based Related Group was under contract to buy the Tampa Tribune's downtown Tampa real estate and redevelop it into a residential building. A Related executive confirmed those plans to the TBBJ on June 24, after filing its plans with the city.

A major redevelopment like the one Related is planning is obviously a significant deal - and this one is especially. Related's plans will demolish the real estate of one of the city's most prominent businesses. In late July, the group fast-tracked its plans for the redevelopment, telling the city it anticipated full buildout by 2017. Related closed on the property for $17.75 million in late July.

The office market: While downtown Tampa is at the beginning of an apartment construction boom, the anchor of the urban core is still the office market. Close to 60,000 office workers are the heartbeat of downtown every Monday through Friday.

That's why all the activity in the downtown office market - from dwindling vacancies to rising rents - is such good news. The office market drives demand for downtown restaurants and retailers and creates potential tenants for residential buildings.

"In my 25 years now in Florida, this is the healthiest I've seen the market," Richey said.

Investors, too, see the rising demand for office space, prompting some landlords to sell and others to move into the urban core. Three of the city's skyline towers sold this year: SunTrust Financial Centre, Rivergate Tower and Bank of America Plaza.

At long last, a Publix: Rumored for years, plans for a Publix in downtown Tampa's Channel district got real this year, when the Lakeland-based grocer confirmed it is working on a store at the corner of Twiggs Street and Meridian Avenue.

Landing a Publix validates the burgeoning neighborhood as a true urban district and could encourage other retailers to seek a downtown location. With the store comes another significant development- the 21-story Channel Club, an apartment tower on the same vacant block in the Channel district.

915 Franklin: A 23-story apartment tower on North Franklin Street began construction in mid-December, with workers beginning demolition of the old storefronts on the site. Atlanta-based Carter's plans for the site mark the first construction in the actual core in years. Until now, the city's urban residential boom was confined to the Channel district and Harbour Island.

In the works for more than a year, the demolition signals long-term confidence in the downtown market- that demand will be there for luxury apartments for years to come.

Riverwalk Tower: Plans for a project formerly known as Trump Tower were resurrected this year in a big way. Larry Feldman, CEO of Feldman Equities LLC, and his partners at Tower Realty have proposed a 52-story mixed-use tower at the intersection of Brorein Street and Ashley Street.

The group's plans for the site are a first for Tampa - floors eight through 22 will be 205,000 square feet of office space, and floors 23 to 52 will be 203 residential units, all stacked on top of seven stories of parking. What makes the plans even more significant, though, is that developers closed on the site at the end of November, paying $12 million for 1.47 acres and the adjacent CapTrust Building.

Closing on a site adds an additional layer of credibility to any development project, with the developer financially committed to the property. The tower is slated to break ground in late 2016.

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