Japanese bank opens big office in Tampa, to employ up to 500 people
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Oct 17, 2023

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is opening an East Coast hub in Tampa that will eventually employ up to 500 people.

MUFG, which is based in Tokyo and has U.S. headquarters in New York, has subleased 80,000 square feet of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP’s campus in MetWest International, the Tampa Bay Business Journal has learned.

MetWest International is a mixed-use development in Tampa’s Westshore business district. MUFG is taking the third, fourth and eighth floors in MetWest III at 4050 W. Boy Scout Blvd.

The bank did not previously have a presence in the Tampa Bay area. While it has locations throughout the U.S., the Tampa office is the bank’s first Florida location.

Representatives from MUFG confirmed the location to the Business Journal on Monday. It plans to hire for roles in operations, technology, risk, finance, audit and human resources.

The bank held a soft opening on Monday and is planning a formal opening in January 2024.

“MUFG selected Tampa because it offers access to a diverse base of talent, a supportive business community, and a place where we can positively impact the community,” a spokesperson wrote in an email. “And as we’ve done in other U.S. markets, we will make meaningful contributions to the city through employee volunteerism and philanthropy. Our goal for Tampa is to create an East Coast-based hub for hundreds of colleagues who mainly support our client-facing teams.”

K.C. Tenukas, senior vice president with CBRE Group Inc. in Tampa, represented MUFG in the lease transaction. Ryan Reynolds, also a CBRE senior vice president, represented PwC as the sublessor.

A spokesperson for CBRE declined comment Monday.

The lease is among the largest signed in the Tampa Bay region in the last five years; in this market, most office leases are between 10,000 and 20,000 square feet. Most new office leases are even smaller than that average because of the widespread adoption of hybrid work after the Covid-19 pandemic.