Retail, office space in Grand Central at Kennedy is on the market
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Oct 11, 2021

The retail and office space in Grand Central at Kennedy — the first mixed-use project completed in downtown Tampa's Channel district — is on the market.

The space, which totals 115,899 square feet, is 99% occupied by 14 tenants. The retail space makes up 60,329 square feet of the listed property; the remaining 55,570 square feet is office space. Major tenants include CVS, Crunch Fitness and office users Kraft Heinz Foods and Quality Carriers (a division of CSX Corp.).

Grand Central at Kennedy also includes 392 condominiums. At the heart of the development is a courtyard with outdoor seating and an open-air, covered bar that provides seating for Cena, City Dog Cantina, the Pour Hous and other restaurants located within Grand Central. The bar area and seating were added at the end of 2020, representing an investment of $1.7 million.

Grand Central's original developer, GCAK Tampa LLC, has retained Mike Milano, Nicholas Coccodrilli and Brandon Rapone of Colliers to market the space for sale.

“Typically, urban retail developments contain upscale fashion and restaurant retail tenants,” Milano said in a statement. “However, Grand Central contains a mix of necessity, service and restaurant tenants that affords residents access to essential goods and services within walking distance. This makes Grand Central a desirable and active retail property in Tampa’s central business district.”

Developer Ken Stoltenberg, a partner in Mercury Advisors, told the Tampa Bay Business Journal that the decision to sell is all about timing. Mercury Advisors is the managing member of GCAK Tampa LLC.

"Everybody wants to buy in Florida," he said, "and we’ve been here since the beginning."

Stoltenberg called the property a "trophy asset" and highlighted its position between Water Street Tampa and Gas Worx, two mixed-use districts on opposite ends of the urban core. Every building in Water Street's first phase will be open by the end of 2021, and the first multifamily building in Gas Worx could begin construction in the coming months.

Stoltenberg and his wife will retain an ownership share in Cena, the Italian restaurant in Grand Central.

"You can’t fall in love with real estate — if it’s the right time to sell, it's the right time to sell," Stoltenberg said. "It’s not bittersweet at all because it's become the thriving, walkable neighborhood I thought it would be 20 years ago."