Industrious newest Tampa location could be transformational for Ybor City
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Mar 4, 2021

The remaining portion of Centro Ybor's movie theater has officially been converted to a coworking hub — though it looks more like a luxe hotel lobby than office space.

Industrious opened its 45,000-square-foot location in historic Ybor City on Monday. It's the second Industrious to open in the Tampa Bay region; the first opened in downtown Tampa's Truist Place in late 2017. Two others are set to open this summer in Water Street's Sparkman Wharf and downtown St. Petersburg's 200 Central tower.

Two of those locations — Centro Ybor and 200 Central — are owned by Tampa's Third Lake Partners. Third Lake is the private investment fund controlled by the Wanek family, which owns Ashley Furniture HomeStore Inc. The Centro Ybor location, with space for about 620 members, adds to a recent spate of development that includes the boutique Hotel Haya and Masonite Inc.'s new headquarters.

"I honestly think this is transformational for Ybor," Ken Jones, CEO of Third Lake Partners, told the Business Journal. "Things are absolutely happening in real time right now, and I think this is a turning point. This is the inflection point for this part of Ybor City, and you'll see a lot more economic activity."

When the location in Centro Ybor was announced, Industrious characterized the deal with Third Lake as a "partnership." Instead of a traditional lease, Industrious signs a property management agreement with landlords to operate a coworking space within the building — similar in nature to a deal between a hotel flag and a developer.

In February, commercial real estate giant CBRE Group Inc. acquired a 35 percent stake in Industrious for $200 million, signaling to industry observers that the coworking model — and the flexibility of its membership options — will become increasingly popular in a post-pandemic world.

"I think they’re in a position to benefit greatly as people start to return to work," Jones said of Industrious, "and companies think about physical distancing and the model of renting space for 10 years at a time when you have to deal with real estate taxes, and common area maintenance versus Industrious."