Britton Plaza, one of South Tampa's oldest shopping centers, to be marketed for sale
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Mar 27, 2024

South Tampa shopping center Britton Plaza is about to be listed for sale — opening up the possibility of redeveloping a property that brims with potential but has been considered unavailable for decades.

A team of brokers from CBRE Inc.'s Miami office will market the property for sale, the Tampa Bay Business Journal has learned. The shopping center, built in 1956, has been owned by the Bickimer family of Ohio for decades. Clearwater-based Bruce Strumpf Inc. handles leasing and management at the center. President Jill Strumpf was not immediately available for comment Wednesday.

The sale of Britton Plaza will be a generational transaction for Tampa, attracting institutional investors who will pay a market-high price. It sits on roughly 30 acres adjacent to some of Tampa's wealthiest neighborhoods. It has significant big-box vacancies, making it primed for redevelopment: Stein Mart, Big Lots and Tuesday Morning have closed locations there. Bealls Outlet will close in April, according to a store employee.

"I’ve never seen a deal with the metrics, the upside component of this one," said a real estate source who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the deal. "It is going to be highly sought after."

But redeveloping the property won't be easy; it will be a yearslong endeavor, as the new owner will be limited by existing leases and their stipulations. Wild 94.1 this week reported rumors that the shopping center would be demolished and redeveloped by the developer of Midtown Tampa, Bromley Cos.

Nick Haines, CEO of New York-based Bromley, told the Business Journal via text message on Tuesday that those rumors are false.

Publix Super Markets Inc. acquired its location in Britton Plaza — a ground lease — when it bought several dozen stores from Albertsons. Publix demolished and rebuilt its Britton Plaza store in 2015.

"If you can get through all the lease encumbrances, I think there is some real viability as it relates to mixed-use redevelopment," said Scott Dobbins, principal of Hybridge Commercial Real Estate. "There's a lot of gross leasable area in its current form; I see the retail being reduced and other categories being brought in ... [including] multifamily, when the market allows it, and a significant food and beverage component."

Ari Ravi, executive vice president of investment sales at Ripco Real Estate in Tampa, said the property is comparable to, if not more valuable than, the assemblage that became Midtown Tampa.

"That would be a great area to redevelop for the market because it’s such a large piece of land," Ravi said, "and such a strategic area of South Tampa."