Dual-flag hotel under construction in downtown Tampa signs national coffee chain
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jun 4, 2020

A dual-flag hotel under construction in downtown Tampa has signed a deal with Starbucks for one of its street-level storefronts.

Liberty Group CEO Punit Shah, who owns and operates three other licensed Starbucks cafes around the city, said he has committed to 1,567 square feet on the ground floor of the dual-branded Hyatt House/Hyatt Place hotel at 405 E. Kennedy Blvd.

HRI, based in New Orleans, is the developer of the 17-story hotel. The developer acquired the site from the city after winning a bid for it in 2016.

Sheila Suhar, an associate with Hybridge Commercial Real Estate, represented HRI in the transaction. Will Conroy, a partner in law firm Johnson Pope, provided counsel to Shah.

The deal comes as the hospitality sector faces a bleak outlook in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Hotels and restaurants saw revenue decline to nearly nothing during stay-at-home orders. While states are in various stages of reopening — Florida will move to phase two of Gov. Ron DeSantis' opening plan on Friday — corporate and leisure travel and consumer spending are still down significantly.

Shah owns and operates Starbucks stores on Harbour Island and in downtown Tampa's Channel district. His store, in the Westshore business district, is to begin construction in the next 30 days and is slated to open in the fall.

Buildout costs for the newest cafe will be around $900,000, Shah said. He has not yet selected a general contractor.

Shah's new store is the fifth full-service Starbucks in downtown Tampa. He does not control the locations inside the Tampa Marriott Water Street or the Tampa Hilton Downtown.

"When we decided to open Starbucks stores throughout Tampa about two years ago, the only full-service Starbucks was located in the Hilton," Shah said, "and there were two small kiosks inside the lobbies of the Embassy Suites and Marriott."