Lender on 23-story apartment tower in downtown Tampa 'excited' for $70M deal
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jan 4, 2016

The lender who provided a $70 million senior loan for a new development in downtown Tampa is "excited" about the deal.

California-based PCCP LLC said Monday that it is backing Atlanta-based Carter's 23-story apartment tower on North Franklin Street. Carter closed on the 1-acre block in September for $6.4 million and began demolition of the existing structures on the site in mid-December.

"The Tampa market has exhibited strong population and job growth,” Kevin Chin, senior vice president with PCCP, said in a statement. "We are excited about the opportunity to provide financing for the development of an upscale residential tower in the heart of downtown to Carter, an experienced developer and client we have worked with on past projects.”

The tower will include 362 residential units, 6,500 square feet of retail space and an eighth-story pool deck and terrace located above the parking garage. It will have a ground-level fitness center and a clubhouse on the top floor.

Development 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 - making Carter's plans one of the biggest deals of the year for downtown Tampa in 2015.

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