Big office tenant vacating space in former Ybor cigar factor
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jan 13, 2016

Stantec is moving its Tampa location from one urban neighborhood to another.

The civil engineering, design and consulting firm will move into 23,500 square feet on the sixth floor of One Harbour Place on Harbour Island in late summer or early fall, a spokeswoman confirmed via email.

One Harbour Place is owned and leased by Highwoods Properties Inc. (NYSE: HIW). JLL represented Stantec in its move.

"We are looking forward to the easy walk to the vibrant core of downtown Tampa, which is great today, and getting even better with all the new development in the near future. It is a great building - strategically and centrally located within our Tampa Bay practice area," Dave Kemper, office manager and senior principal, said in a statement.

The company is vacating 28,000 square feet of office space at 2205 N. 20th St. - a former cigar factory turned office building in Ybor City. It is downsizing its overall space, the spokeswoman said, because all employees will be on the same floor in One Harbour Place, which allows for more efficient use of space.

The move will take more than 90 employees out of Ybor, a neighborhood known for its nightlife that is only beginning to blossom as an office district. Ashley Furniture is in the process of building out its U.S. e-commerce headquarters in Centro Ybor, a mixed-use development in the heart of the neighborhood. Ashley plans to eventually employ 100 people in that location.

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