Moffitt Cancer Center wins bid to redevelop prime block in downtown St. Pete
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Nov 4, 2021

Moffit Cancer Center has officially been selected to redevelop a piece of property in downtown St. Petersburg.

In August, city officials received an unsolicited bid from a development team that includes Atlanta-based TPA Group, Moffit and United Insurance Holdings Corp. to purchase and develop the entirety of the 800 block of Second Avenue South, which is about 4.59 acres. Mayor Rick Kriseman on Thursday said he has chosen that proposal.

The unsolicited bid was up against five other proposals the city received after Moffitt’s proposal triggered an open bid process.

“Having a Moffitt Cancer Center facility in the heart of our downtown, near both our Innovation District and the Tropicana Field site, is a home run for St. Petersburg,” Kriseman said in a news release. “We are a healthier city when residents in need of quality outpatient care can focus on beating cancer and not the traffic. I am especially pleased that this proposal includes a much-needed residential tower with workforce units and a public parking garage in a part of St. Pete primed for even more growth.”

The team offered the city $5 million for the block. The initial proposal included plans to create a 75,000-square-foot medical office building for Moffitt, which would bring 200 new jobs to St. Petersburg over the course of five years. Within this facility, Moffitt could administer cancer treatments, including radiation therapy, clinical trials, research studies, hematology-oncology, medical oncology and advanced imaging.

According to the city, creating the facility would allow “8,000 St. Petersburg residents each year to stay in St. Petersburg for Moffitt services, resulting in 36,000 annual visits and the elimination of 75,000 hours of travel time.”

The proposal also included plans to create a parking garage with a minimum of 500 spaces, a 14-story hotel, a 350-unit residential tower — 10% of which would be for workforce housing – as well as room for potential expansion of United Insurance Holdings Corp.’s existing headquarters.

The City Development Administration anticipates completing the terms of the sale soon. TPA said it has retained Barr & Barr as a construction manager and design-builder for the site work and the residential tower that will be located on the property.

The five other bids rejected for the property came from Apogee Real Estate Partners, Mill Creek Residential, Porter Development, Related Group and Trammell Crow Residential. The variety of proposals included plans for developments such as an office tower, mixed-use buildings with apartments and retail, a boutique hotel and parking garages.

“Moffitt Cancer Center is working diligently every day to save more lives. In order to do that, we must reach more patients. We want to bring the best cancer care closer to the residents of Pinellas County,” Dr. Patrick Hwu, president and CEO of Moffitt Cancer Center, said in a news release. “We are thrilled with the opportunity to better serve more Floridians with a new outpatient center in downtown St. Petersburg.”