Westshore office building sells for $40 million
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Feb 24, 2023

An office building near WestShore Plaza has sold to a buyer who is planning to upgrade the property.

The nine-story Bridgeport Center has sold for $40 million to South Florida real estate private equity fund MHCommercial Real Estate Fund II in a joint venture partnership with Siguler Guff & Company LP, MHCommercial said Thursday. Hillsborough County property records show the sale closed Thursday.

M&T Bank provided a $27 million mortgage for the transaction. Bridgeport Center is 180,247 square feet, and the sales price breaks down to $222 per square foot.

The seller was a corporate entity linked to Coral Gables-based America's Capital Partners, according to property records. ACP paid $29.5 million for the building in 2008.

Bridgeport Center was built in 1980. Its anchor tenant is Delta Air Lines.

Mike Davis, Rick Brugge, Dominic Montazemi and Rick Colon of Cushman & Wakefield Inc. represented ACP in the sale. Elizabeth Jones and John Strickroot of Shutts & Bowen represented the buyers.

"The asset fits the fund’s model to purchase quality properties below replacement costs while providing the opportunity to create value," MHCREFII principals Neil E. Merin and Jordan Paul said in a joint statement. "Plans are in place for significant property upgrades and the creation of quality and efficient spec suites to accommodate tenants in the Westshore submarket.”

NAI/Merin Hunter Codman Inc. will manage the property. Barry Hanerfeld of CBRE in Tampa will market the property for lease.