IPC US of Toronto will own the 12-story City Center in St. Petersburg and an office building in Tampa.
By STEVE HUETTEL
Published May 14, 2004
A Canadian real estate investment trust has contracted to buy two Tampa Bay area buildings, including the third-largest office tower in downtown St. Petersburg.
IPC US of Toronto will pay a total of $53.6-million in separate transactions for the 12-story City Center on Second Avenue S in St. Petersburg and a four-story office building leased to the International Academy of Design on Eisenhower Boulevard in Tampa, the company said Thursday.
The buildings fit IPC's strategy of acquiring high-quality office buildings with few vacancies in mid size cities, said Y. Dov Meyer, chief investment officer.
"We focus on income producing buildings that are very well leased," he said.
International Academy leases the entire 130,000-square-foot building in Tampa, previously occupied by PriceWaterhouseCoopers and IBM. City Center's 238,000 square feet of office space is 88 percent leased with tenants that include Northern Trust Bank, Progress Telecom, State Farm Insurance and RBC Dain Rauscher.
The company will give "a facelift" to the 20-year-old City Center, formerly named the Northern Trust Bank Building, Meyer said.
IPC will add parking for International Academy on an adjacent 5.2 acres included in the acquisition. The parcel is zoned for an additional 120,000 square feet of office space, but IPC has no immediate plans to build there, Meyersaid.
IPC promotes itself as the only Canadian real estate investment trust that invests exclusively in U.S. commercial real estate.
With the local purchases, the 21/2-year-old company will own 32 commercial properties in 10 states, Meyer said. IPC owns two South Florida properties. City Center and the International Academy building will be its first in the Tampa Bay area.
City Center is owned by Delma Properties of New York, according to the Pinellas County Property Appraiser's Office records. The International Academy building is owned by Wells Real Estate Funds, an Atlanta real estate investment management firm.
- Researcher Kitty Bennett contributed to this report. Steve Huettel can be reached at huettel@sptimes.com or 813226-3384.
