Accardis close on full city block in downtown Tampa
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Nov 30, 2018

One of the largest landowners in downtown Tampa has added a full city block to its portfolio.

John and Jason Accardi, the twin brothers who own Seven One Seven Parking Services Inc., paid $5 million for the vacant lot at 602 E. Cass St., according to Hillsborough County property records.

The 1-acre site is directly across Cass Street from the Le Meridien parking garage, which the Accardis acquired in October. The brothers said in a statement that the property was once home to Coca-Cola Bottling Co. and has operated as the Cass Street Parking Facility for several decades.

It's also a prime future development site. The approved site plan includes the following entitlements, according to the Accardis: up to 369 residential units; 7,566 square feet retail; 11,642 square feet of office within a gross building area of 503,631 square feet within a 36-story structure with eight stories of a 588-space parking structure.

"We are very excited about this acquisition as it accelerates the growth of our downtown Tampa real estate portfolio and is the ideal addition to our recently acquired Le Meridien Parking Garage directly across Cass Street," John Accardi said in a statement.

"Its strategic location is positioned to immediately serve downtown's growing parking demand and its entitlements provide for unique long-term development possibilities.”

Matt Gonzalez, who oversees development and strategic planning for the Accardis, wrote in an email Friday that the group is "currently investigating future development of this site along with several of our other downtown properties."