Downtown Tampa office tower sold for $110 million
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Oct 19, 2018

One of Tampa's signature skyline buildings has been sold for $110 million.

A partnership of Banyan Street Capital and Oaktree Capital Management LP has acquired Tampa City Center, the 38-story office tower connected to the Hilton Tampa Downtown at 201 N. Franklin St.

It is Banyan's third property in Tampa's urban core; the Miami-based firm also owns Bank of America Plaza and Rivergate Tower.

Ernst & Young, Deloitte, Masonite, Morgan & Morgan, FieldCore (a division of GE), CDW and PNC Bank are among the tower's notable tenants.

A team of brokers from Cushman & Wakefield Inc. - vice chairman Mike Davis and executive directors Rick Brugge and Michael Lerner - represented the seller, which was an affiliate of Alliance Partners HSP, the East Coast operating arm of the Shidler Group, in the transaction.

Cushman also helped arrange the financing. Senior directors Jason Hochma and Chris Lentz, executive managing director Michael Ryan and executive director Brian Linnihan assisted the buyer in securing an $84 million acquisition loan from HSBC Bank. That loan will also cover capital improvements and tenant improvement costs.

Cushman & Wakefield will also continue leasing and managing the property, with managing director Barry Hanerfeld and senior director Barry Oaks overseeing those efforts.

"Tampa City Center's unmatched location and connectivity to the Hilton hotel, Fort Brooke parking garage, Starbucks and The University Club differentiates this asset from all others in the CBD,” Davis said in a statement. "As demand continues to grow in downtown, this asset will remain the location of choice for amenity-driven tenants."

Alliance Partners paid $128 million for the building in 2014 and then created a land lease on the property, splitting the building and the dirt beneath it between two separate entities. The group retains ownership of the land lease, and the new ownership will be paying rent to the seller.

"It was not sold at a loss because it was sold subject to an underlying land lease, which retains significant value," Davis said.

This is the third time Cushman has represented the seller of this tower. Davis, Brugge and Lerner represented the previous ownership when it sold to Alliance in 2014.

Tampa City Center is home to the University Club, a private social club which is on the 38th floor. In addition to its connection to the Hilton, the building is also connected to the city-owned Fort Brooke parking garage.