Salvation Army has sold some of its Tampa Heights real estate
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Oct 26, 2021

One of the most closely watched pieces of real estate in Tampa Heights has sold to a local investment group.

The Salvation Army has sold its office building at 1514 N. Florida Ave. to Abacus Heights LLC, which paid $2.05 million for the 23,535-square-foot building, according to Hillsborough County property records.

Jack Koehler and Bill Eshenbaugh of Eshenbaugh Land Co. were brokers in the transaction.

The Salvation Army used that building for its sheltering services, a spokeswoman said, and will consolidate its operations at 1603 N. Florida Ave. after a $6.5 million renovation.

Abacus Heights, led by Tampa investor Raj Patel, is planning a renovation that will transform the space into a boutique office building, Patel told the Tampa Bay Business Journal. Patel's family and close friends are investors in the project. The group also owns warehouses along Channelside Drive that have recently been listed for sale, and in 2015, sold off the retail condominiums on the ground floor of the Skypoint tower. Retail and self-storage properties are the investors' primary focus, Patel said.

The acquisition is a long-term hold for the investors, Patel said, as the group is bullish on Tampa Heights and plans to extend the TECO Line Streetcar system to the neighborhood.

Patel said the renovation will include the addition of a private rooftop terrace and that the group is looking for a single tenant to occupy the space. The building dates back to 1926, and because historic renovations can uncover unseen issues, the budget is in flux, Patel said.

"We’re the third owners in 100 years, so there’s a lot of unknowns until we actually get into demolition," he said.

The investors plan to begin designing the space while searching for an office tenant and hope to sign a deal early enough in the process to customize the space for that company. The group is still evaluating whether to hire an office leasing broker to market the space.

"Hopefully, by this time next year, we have someone move into there," he said.