Foot Locker could pick St. Pete real estate by year-end
By Henry Queen
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Oct 8, 2024

An incentive package to entice a Fortune 500 company to move to St. Petersburg has been approved by city officials.

St. Pete City Council voted 7-2 on Oct. 3 to approve an economic development deal of up to $475,000 to bring Foot Locker's headquarters to the Sunshine City. Foot Locker announced its intention to move from New York City to St. Pete on Aug. 28.

The sneaker retailer currently leases about 147,000 square feet in a Manhattan building on the block next to Madison Square Garden. That lease expires in 2031, according to CoStar.

Foot Locker will decide between two office buildings in the Gateway area by the end of the year, St. Pete Economic Development Director Brian Caper told councilmembers. It already has an office presence at the Franklin Templeton building at 140 Fountain Parkway. JLL represents Foot Locker in its search for more St. Pete office space.

Caper said employee relocations should begin in summer 2025, and the headquarters should be in operation by fall 2025.

The economic development deal requires Foot Locker to create 150 net new jobs. The company must also sign an office lease of at least 100,000 square feet within city limits and hire workers from South St. Pete — among other requirements.

Foot Locker has 10 years to meet those demands. Councilmembers didn't change the incentive package, and it passed as proposed by Mayor Ken Welch's administration.

"I look at the return on investment," councilmember Brandi Gabbard said. "$475,000 output for the job incentive package, but then a total of a $37 million economic output of the job creation and the economic incentives. I mean, the math doesn't lie."

Councilmember Richie Floyd voted against the deal, saying he opposes ad valorem tax exemptions for companies. Real estate prices are the true reason businesses relocate from places like New York City to St. Pete, he said.

John Muhammed cast the other dissenting vote.

St. Pete officials first unveiled an incentive package to entice Foot Locker's move under the code name Project Athena in 2021. By fall 2022, the deal appeared to be dead.

Media coverage naming Foot Locker as the company coming to St. Pete — along with real estate uncertainties during Covid-19 — caused Foot Locker to put its plans on hold, Caper said.

Pinellas County approved its own set of incentives for Foot Locker in 2021. That package remains available to Foot Locker, according to Pinellas County Director of Economic Development Cynthia Johnson.