Tricera Capital Closes Two Property Sales in Tampa and St. Petersburg for Combined $27 Million
Miami real estate investment firm completes successful dispositions of mixed-use building and former industrial property

By Post
Tampa Bay Newswire
Published: Nov 22, 2021

MIAMI AND TAMPA/ST. PETERSBURG, FL – Nov. 22, 2021 – Tricera Capital, the Miami-based real estate investment firm, completed the sale of two properties in Tampa and St. Petersburg for a combined $27 million. The firm has a significant portfolio in the broader Tampa/St. Petersburg market and continues to target potential acquisitions.

In one transaction, Tricera sold a mixed-use building at 442 W. Kennedy Blvd. for $16.6 million on Nov. 19. The buyer of the approximately 40,000-square-foot building was not disclosed. Tricera acquired the property for $8.5 million in August 2018, early in the firm’s aggressive push to assemble prime properties in the area.

Tricera also sold a former industrial property located at 201 17th Street South in downtown St. Petersburg to Mill Creek Residential. The $10.85 million transaction closed on Nov. 18. Tricera purchased the 92,248-square-foot building for $6.5 million in November 2017.

The more than 2-acre property is just east of I-275 and within blocks of Central Avenue and Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays. It spans from 18th Street South to 17th Street South along Third Avenue South, at the intersection of the Grand Central and Warehouse Arts districts.

“We are pleased to complete these successful exits in Tampa and downtown St. Petersburg,” Tricera Co-Founder and Managing Principal Ben Mandell said. “Early in our firm’s history, we identified both cities as areas with vast potential. It has been exciting to see our vision materialize, and there is still ample opportunity for further growth in the Tampa/St. Petersburg MSA.”

The office and retail property 442 W. Kennedy Blvd. is directly in between the University of Tampa and a 314-unit luxury multifamily development. It is also located one storefront away from Oxford Exchange, a major traffic generator that has quickly become a Tampa landmark. Tricera completed extensive upgrades to the building exterior and lobby and reimagined the ground floor by adding rentable square footage and brining in quality retail operators to activate the space, as well as securing a long-term lease with the food-and-beverage anchor and Tampa staple, Mise en Place.

Tricera is now replicating its ground-floor retail activation approach at ICON Central in St. Petersburg’s Central Arts District. The firm acquired the ground-floor retail space at Related Group’s recently completed apartment development in July 2021. The acquisition also included the adjoining Union Trust Bank building.

“Our in-house team has been able to consistently turn ground-floor space into a catalyst for an entire building or development, when such space historically was an afterthought,” Tricera Co-Founder and Managing Principal Scott Sherman said. “We are long-term believers in St. Petersburg and Tampa and continue to aggressively pursue new acquisition opportunities in those markets.”

Law firm Polsinelli represented Tricera in the transactions.