Law firm to move to Water Street Tampa, double space
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Apr 5, 2023

A national law firm plans to move its Florida flagship from Tampa’s central business district to Water Street, nearly doubling the size of its downtown office.

Bradley has signed a lease for 37,000 square feet on the 10th and 11th floors of Thousand and One, an office tower along Channelside Drive, Water Street developer Strategic Property Partners said Wednesday. Cushman & Wakefield Inc. represented SPP in the lease transaction. Bradley was represented by Savills.

The law firm will vacate 20,000 square feet in office tower 100 North Tampa by year’s end. Architecture firm Gensler is designing the space, and the law firm is still fielding bids from general contractors, said Craig Mayfield, Bradley’s Tampa managing partner.

He declined to disclose a total investment in the move, citing the ongoing bid process.

The move, Mayfield said, is a testament to Bradley’s growth plans in Florida. Tampa is Birmingham, Alabama-based Bradley’s only Florida location, and Mayfield said the new Water Street office will allow the firm to expand its statewide reach. The Tampa office employs 28 attorneys, and Mayfield anticipates that number growing to 50 by the end of 2025. Eventually, Bradley plans to employ 100 attorneys at the Tampa office.

Corporate law firms in Tampa have traditionally been based in the central business district, and moving to one of the city’s new mixed-use districts is a major shift in brand and style for Bradley. But Mayfield says the paradigm is shifting, and his firm may be only the first to make the move. (In 2022, law firm GrayRobinson considered a move to Water Street but ultimately decided to remain in the central business district, moving from Truist Place to Bank of America Plaza.)

“The CBD, as good as it’s been to the legal industry — these are still buildings that came out of the ground in the mid-’80s,” Mayfield said, “and from an amenity standpoint and talent recruitment standpoint, [new recruits] are all looking for the type of community to work in that Water Street offers.”

In the post-Covid era of remote and hybrid work, Mayfield said Bradley is a proponent of in-person collaboration but also offers flexibility, and some of its support staff has a hybrid schedule.

“We are still very much a believer that attorneys learn more in a collaborative setting,” he said, “and there are better mentoring opportunities when you’re in the office.”

The 20-story Thousand and One is nearly 80% leased with the signing of Bradley’s lease, a spokeswoman for SPP said. SPP is controlled by Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates’ investment fund, Cascade Investment LLC.

“Thousand and One has revolutionized the office market in Tampa by providing a first-of-its-kind amenitized and wellness-based workplace experience,” David Bevirt, executive vice president of corporate leasing and strategy for SPP, said in a statement.

Bradley joins the headquarters of Tampa-grown cybersecurity firm ReliaQuest along with several other office tenants in Thousand and One. On the street level, the office building is home to French restaurant Boulon Brasserie and fast-casual bowl concept Naked Farmer. Cava, a Mediterranean bowl concept, is slated to open on the street level of Thousand and One soon.