Downtown Tampa office tower to get $14 million makeover
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Mar 3, 2020

One of the biggest office landlords in downtown Tampa is planning to pour millions of dollars into renovating one of its towers.

A partnership of Banyan Street Capital and funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management LP is teeing up a renovation of Tampa City Center, the 38-story, 757,425-square-foot office tower that's connected to the Hilton Tampa Downtown. Construction is slated to begin in the second quarter of 2020 and wrap up by the fall.

Banyan Street, based in Miami, and Oaktree acquired Tampa City Center in October 2018; the group also owns Bank of America Plaza and Rivergate Tower, meaning it controls around 30 percent of downtown Tampa's office inventory. Banyan owns just over 2 million square feet, and the downtown inventory is around 6 million square feet.

Tampa City Center is approximately 94 percent leased, but the downtown office market is as competitive as it's ever been. While there's unprecedented demand for office space in downtown Tampa, there's also new product being delivered for the first time in a quarter century. Between The Heights and Water Street, millions of square feet of new office space will open in the urban core in the coming years.

“Banyan Street and Oaktree’s investment into this building will reinforce its position as the true center of downtown Tampa and will bring it into its next life cycle," Mercedes Angell, a Cushman & Wakefield broker whose team leads the leasing efforts, said in a statement.

Banyan Street's overhaul of Rivergate Tower led to a dramatic repositioning of that building within the downtown office market. Architecture firm Gensler, which designed the Rivergate Tower renovations, has been tapped to design the Tampa City Center makeover as well.

Rudy Prio Touzet, CEO of Banyan Street, said the Tampa City Center renovations were "long overdue." Tampa City Center is home to the University Club, a private social club that occupies the 38th floor. Notable tenants include Ernst & Young, Deloitte, Visit Tampa Bay, Morgan & Morgan, PNC Bank, FieldCore (a division of GE), Coca-Cola and CDW.

The tower was built in 1981.

"Our investment thesis in Tampa has proven out in dramatic fashion with downtown demand being as high as we’ve ever seen," Touzet said in a statement. "By adding exciting new amenities and strategic design updates, we hope to deliver best-in-class environments for our tenants and their employees, at multiple price points across the central business district."

The $14 million renovation will include improvements to the building’s main lobby and second-floor concourse, multitenant elevator landings, corridors and restrooms, as well as reprogramming of the historic Franklin Street Esplanade.

“The new design maintains some classic stone, while introducing clean modern elements like green walls, white Venetian plaster, metals and bold lighting," Noah Rollins, an architect with Gensler and the project designer, said in a statement. "The central feature, a white lighting ribbon that extends from the street entry and brings people to the second floor, will emphasize the movement of people and intersections and add several touchdown locations, as well as private seating areas and intriguing artwork."