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A towering vacancy

Amazing. A big vacancy at St. Petersburg's signature tower. It's not expected to last.

By James Thorner, Times Staff Writer
Published March 20, 2007

It's got a copper roof reminiscent of a French chateau, exterior glass elevators with birds-eye views and a clock tower visible from Interstate 275.

But what downtown St. Petersburg's Bank of America Tower has in abundance today is vacancy.

Until Thanksgiving a member of the no-vacancy club, the 27-story office tower, St. Petersburg's tallest, now finds itself one-fifth empty.

Late last year a major tenant, Progress Energy Corp., began consolidating operations a couple of blocks away at a new 16-story tower at 299 First Ave. N. Progress had removed all but 40 employees over the years, but continued to tie up space with a long-term lease.

While 20 percent vacancy is close to average for top office space in downtown Tampa - and even an improvement over the nearly 30 percent vacancy rate in downtown Clearwater - such a renter's market has been rare the past several years in St. Petersburg.

But some people who lease offices downtown consider it a welcome change from the no-room-at-the-inn atmosphere that had permeated the city's business district. Previously, growing businesses were forced to leave downtown for more elbow room in office parks such as Carillon.

"That's one of the best buildings, if not the best building, in Pinellas County. It will get leased, probably in 10 to 12 months," said Alan Feldshue of the Colliers Arnold real estate firm. "If you want to be downtown, it's got the prestige, the penthouse. Rates might be a little high but it's top of the market."

One Progress Properties, which bought the tower in 2002, is searching for tenants for six empty floors. Rents range from $24.50 on lower floors to $33 per square foot on the fancier upper stories. Co-owner Darin Kucera rated the chances as slim of finding a single tenant for all the floors. So the company is subdividing the ninth floor for multiple users. One fertile market: Tampa companies looking for a St. Petersburg branch office.

Buoyed by its arts, sports and shopping scene, St. Petersburg's business district has been the cream of the urban crop in the Tampa Bay area. Downtown Tampa and Clearwater have struggled with different sets of problems: Tampa from competition from the Westshore business district, Clearwater from its relative geographical isolation and resort-town image.

But in contrast to the hobbled housing sector, the overall office market still appears sound. Feldshue mentions tenants scouting the area for upwards of 100,000 square feet. And St. Petersburg, with its new condo towers sprouting near the bay, could have a quality-of-life edge.

"I think a lot of people want to live close to where they work," Kucera said.

James Thorner can be reached at thorner@sptimes.com">href="mailto:thorner@sptimes.com" mce_href="mailto:thorner@sptimes.com">thorner@sptimes.com or 813 226-3313.

[Last modified March 20, 2007, 06:36:33]