UPC headquarters buyer says there are 'great options' for the downtown St. Pete site
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Nov 17, 2022

Third Lake Partners has purchased UPC Insurance's headquarters in downtown St. Petersburg, and the co-founder said there are plenty of options on the table for the site.

United Insurance Holdings (Nasdaq: UIHC), the parent company of UPC Insurance, sold the 40,588-square-foot building at 800 Second Ave. S for $10.5 million, according to a deed filed in Pinellas County. The deal closed on Nov. 14.

The parcel is just a few blocks away from Tropicana Field and includes the headquarters building and a small amount of surface parking. The adjacent parking lot is owned by the city of St. Petersburg and was not included in the sale.

Ken Jones, co-founder and managing partner of Third Lake Partners, told the Tampa Bay Business Journal that given the strategic location of the site, he believes the company has a lot of options for the property. He said any of the potential paths they could follow at the site "will dovetail very nicely with any other surrounding development that occurs in the coming year."

"You can continue to have it exist as an office building, it’s a very nice office building, and you could continue to have tenants in the office building," Jones said. "You could attempt to redevelopment into a mixed-use site, there could be continued office, some retail, some multifamily. There are a lot of great options for that site."

Jones said they have been looking at the site for "quite a while." Third Lake continues to be active in downtown St. Petersburg. Earlier this month, the $96 million, 33-story mixed-use tower planned for 235 Third St. S in a partnership between Echelon Real Estate Services and Third Lake cleared a major hurdle with city council.

Despite the "slower macroeconomic conditions that St. Pete is facing," Jones said he believes the city will "continue to be a winner." He said the economic headwinds are going to affect geographies differently and believes much of the Southeast will continue to be attractive for development.

"We look at three things when we're considering potential investments in a certain geography: is there job growth, is there income growth and is there population growth? Any geography that checks all three boxes is typically somewhere that has a favorable climate," Jones said. "In contrast, when you look at states that don't have those things — California, New York, Illinois, Michigan — they're going to be more challenged."

He said part of what allows developers to have confidence in the Florida market is the proven support of leadership across the state. Jones said business, community, local and state leadership all matter and that Florida is "very open, welcoming and accommodating" to its residents.

UPC Insurance was recently part of a development team led by Moffitt Cancer Center and TPA Group. The development team proposed building a cancer facility, hotel, residential tower and parking garage on the more than 4-acre site at 800 First Ave. S. The deal was ultimately killed by Mayor Ken Welch in August.

UPC Insurance sold other properties near the headquarters in St. Pete earlier this year. The company announced in August it would be making its exit from the Florida property market. The company will be withdrawing its personal line businesses from Florida — as well Louisiana and Texas — due to “significant uncertainty around the future availability of reinsurance,” according to CEO Dan Peed.