Mall-turned-office-complex Netpark sells for less than 2003 price
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jul 8, 2024

Netpark, Tampa's enclosed-mall-turned-office-complex, has sold to a New Jersey investment firm for $45 million.

Saxum Real Estate Partners closed on Netpark on July 3, according to Hillsborough County property records. CBRE Group Inc.'s capital markets team — Dale Peterson, Joe Chick and Courtney Snell — represented the seller, Bluett Capital Realty Inc., and their tenants-in-common ownership group in the transaction.

The price is less than Netpark sold for in 2003 when the property fetched $55.2 million. In 2014, the TIC secured a $47 million refinancing to fund a major renovation of the office park.

Netpark, which is 947,176 square feet and sits on over 98 acres, was listed for sale in December 2023 and marketed partly for its redevelopment potential. It was developed as a regional shopping mall in 1976 and was converted to an office property in 1999. It is the largest office property in the Tampa Bay region, and it is the largest office property sold in the Southeast since 2022, according to CBRE.

It was 60% occupied at the time of sale, with tenants ranging from 1,250 square feet to just under 150,000 square feet. Office properties geared toward call centers and other back-office operations are among the hardest hit by the work-from-home shift brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. While other industries have brought employees back to the office on a full-time or hybrid basis, call center employees have largely remained remote workers.

“Investors were drawn to NetPark due to its highly amenitized, technology-focused office space that caters to a diverse tenancy," Dale Peterson, CBRE senior vice president, said in a statement, "including Tampa’s growing presence of shared service operation centers."

Netpark is Saxum's first acquisition in the Tampa market.

“NetPark is a tremendous place to work with a campus and amenity set that differentiates itself amongst its competition," Ian Kukowski, Saxum vice president of acquisitions, said in a statement. "Saxum is excited to enter the Tampa market with scale."