HCC is finally selling its Davis Islands center
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jun 10, 2020

Hillsborough Community College is finally selling its prized real estate on Davis Islands.

Tampa General Hospital is under contract to pay $19.5 million for the 3.31-acre administration center, which is adjacent to the hospital's own real estate. The sale is slated to close on Aug. 25, HCC spokeswoman Ashley Carl told the Tampa Bay Business Journal.

The minimum offer for the property was $18 million, said Mike Griffin, market leader for Savills Tampa, who represents HCC. The sale process began last fall, when Griffin began marketing the property and accepting proposals. The minimum offer price was set based on the proposals they received.

Griffin called for offers on March 3, and the HCC Board of Trustees approved the sale on May 27, Carl said. HCC will vacate by Feb. 25, 2023.

The HCC property has long been eyed as a potential redevelopment play, with its waterfront location on Davis Islands. Griffin said there were four offers on the property, and only TGH's offer did not include a contingency. Among the offers was one from Miami-based Related Group, a residential developer that has said Tampa is its second biggest market outside of South Florida.

TGH CEO John Couris told the Business Journal that the hospital doesn't plan to raze the building; instead, it will consolidate its administrative functions there. It's too soon, he said, to put a cost estimate on renovations. A one-story building on the campus will be used to expand the hospital's on-site daycare for employees, which currently has a yearlong waiting list.

HCC's real estate was appraised at $12 million, Griffin said, and the school has the option to stay in the building for 30 months after the sale closes. Its Davis Islands building was built in 1973, according to Hillsborough County property records.

Hospitals in the Tampa Bay area are in expansion mode, even as the coronavirus pandemic has hit their bottom lines. AdventHealth recently closed on more than 22 acres in Riverview for a new hospital, and TGH is also moving forward with a new medical campus on Kennedy Boulevard in Tampa.