Pinellas County awards $14.7M construction bid for innovation center in St. Pete
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Nov 9, 2021

The Pinellas County Commission selected Dunedin-based Bandes Construction Co. Inc. to build the Tampa Bay Innovation Center incubator project with a $14.7 million contract.

The project, which will be named the ARK Innovation Center, includes building a two-story, 45,000-square-foot facility that will house a business incubator. The facility is going to include approximately 30,000 square feet of client space, as well as coworking/collaboration space, offices and a conference/community room. Parking will be beneath a portion of the building and at the rear of the facility.

The building will be the first of its kind in the county. Five bids were submitted for the project and Bandes was unanimously selected.

The four other bids according to county documents are:

Manhattan Construction Co., approximately $16.2 million

LEMA Construction & Developers Inc., approximately $16.08 million

David Nelson Construction Co., approximately $15.66 million

Trias Construction LLC, approximately $15.16 million

Bandes Construction has a diverse portfolio of projects in Tampa Bay including Bayfront Tower condominiums in St. Petersburg, the Pinellas Park Performing Arts Center, Hyde Park Village in Tampa and the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority’s facility.

The center is in the Innovation District on 2.5 acres at Fourth Street and 11th Avenue South. The entire project is estimated to cost $15.87 million. The funding comes from a U.S. Economic Development Administration grant, local infrastructure sales surtax (Penny for Pinellas), general fund and other miscellaneous funding sources.

The EDA provided a nearly $11.26 million grant and investor Cathie Wood gave $2 million for the naming rights on the center. Ark Investment Management will have its research division at the incubator as well as its foundation, according to Cynthia Johnson, the director of Economic Development for Pinellas County.

Tonya Elmore, president and CEO of the Tampa Bay Innovation Center, told the Tampa Bay Business Journal the center was still raising capital for furnishings and equipment for the facility. She said they anticipate the campaign to wrap up before the end of 2022.

During a public meeting, officials said the center will market its offices at Class A rates. Elmore said the facility is designed to accommodate single users or a multimember team and rental fees will be “like those of other incubator facilities and those institutions housed in the St. Peterburg Innovation District."

The timeline for completion of the center, according to county documents, shows construction will begin in 2022 and the center will be complete by July 2023.