Multimillion-dollar renovation will open up Rivergate Tower to Tampa Riverwalk
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Feb 23, 2016

One of downtown Tampa's most iconic structures is about to get an $11 million makeover that will open up the property to the urban waterfront.

The owners of Rivergate Tower, the cylindrical skyscraper at Kennedy Boulevard and Ashley Drive, are gearing up for the renovation that will include additional waterfront dining entertainment space, along with direct elevator access from the outdoor patio to the Riverwalk. Banyan Street Capital, based in Miami, paid $70 million for the tower in August. CBRE Group Inc. (NYSE: CBG), which has been selected to lease the tower, announced the planned renovations on Monday.

Roxanne Kemph and Kelley Matheson of CBRE's Tampa office will take over the leasing of the tower, which is 80 percent occupied.

The plans come at a time when there's already unprecedented demand for office space in downtown Tampa. Vacancy rates are hovering around 10 percent. Only Rivergate Tower and 501 E. Kennedy Blvd. have more than 100,000 square feet of vacancy.

The renovations will also include hospitality style upgrades to the adjacent "Cube,” renovated entry and exterior patio areas and upgrades and expansion of the main lobby and multi-tenant corridors.

Real estate and revitalization experts hailed the 2015 completion of the Tampa Riverwalk as a major win for the urban core, becoming the sort of de facto gathering spot that the city center had previously lacked.

Tampa Riverwalk is a driving force behind the proposal of another tower: Riverwalk Tower, a 52-story mixed-use building with office, residential and ground-level restaurants that open on to the waterfront. That tower is in the works at Ashley Drive and Brorein Street.

planned renovation has already landed Banyan a new tenant. Autobytel, a web-based automotive media and marketing services company; (NASDAQ: ABTL), which will lease space in the top two floors of the Cube.

t space, CBRE said, hasn't been occupied in more than a decade.

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