Engineering firm KCI Technologies expands in East Tampa office park
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: May 29, 2024

A Maryland-based engineering firm will grow its Tampa footprint by more than 50%.

KCI Technologies has signed a lease for 26,000 square feet at 150-182 Kelsey Lane in the Silo Bend Office Park in East Tampa. The firm previously occupied 17,000 square feet in Meridian Crescent Center in East Tampa.

Caleb Lewis, executive managing director at JLL, represented KCI in the lease transaction. Workspace Property Trust, the landlord, was represented by Jeff Lanning, vice president and Florida regional director.

Workspace, based in Boca Raton, owns, manages and leases 1.8 million square feet of office and office-flex space in five business parks across Tampa.

Lewis told the Tampa Bay Business Journal on Wednesday that office leasing activity in East Tampa has increased significantly in the last six months — the first signs of a resurgence since the Covid-19 pandemic. Companies looking for 10,000 to 20,000 square feet of space are driving the activity, Lewis said.

While the call centers that made up the majority of the East Tampa office market have mostly made the transition to remote work models, Lewis said professional service firms like KCI are active in East Tampa’s office market.

“Up until now, there hasn’t been a lot of leasing activity out there,” Lewis said. “Instead, we’ve seen tenants giving back space.”

The new office will house 150 employees and allow for future growth.

“Our new office space provides us with the opportunity to continue expanding our business, while also being a short distance away from our current location, offering employees and clients the same commuting distance,” Bryan Lawson, president of KCI Professional Services, said in a statement.