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Real estate's real boom: Commercial construction

The Times has spilled many barrels of ink detailing the downturn in the Tampa Bay area housing market. But one branch of the real estate industry is holding up just fine, thank you: Commercial construction.

By James Thorner, Times Staff Writer
Published June 24, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Dirk Shadd | Times] Construction continues at Signature Place, a luxury condominium tower in downtown St. Petersburg. [Artist rendering] Avion Park, planned next door to Tampa International Airport, will have more than 500 hotel room, four restaurants and 450,000 square feet of office space.

The Times has spilled many barrels of ink detailing the downturn in the Tampa Bay area housing market. But one branch of the real estate industry is holding up just fine, thank you: Commercial construction. Think shopping centers, offices, hotels and condominiums. We scoured the Tampa Bay area, sifted through the dollar figures and came up with the region's Top 5 commercial projects. Apologies to other big-ticket deals out there not mentioned, but you have to have broken ground to make the list.

Trump Tower Tampa

Cost: $270-million

Location: 111 S Ashley Drive, Tampa

Size: 190 units in a 52-story tower on 1.5 acres.

Owner/Developer: SimDag LLC

Description: We know, we know. This thing's probably a non-starter. Let us count the ways: The riverfront building site is a desert, the developers are mired in debt and tycoon Donald Trump claims to have pulled out of the deal. But we couldn't help ourselves. How often can you conjure up Manhattan glamor - $6-million penthouses and all- in blue-collar Tampa. Besides, developers insist they'll stick it out. Give them points for perseverance.

Cypress Creek Town Center

Cost: $200-million

Location: Pasco County, Interstate 75 and State Road 56.

Size: At least 1.1-million square feet.

Owner/Developer: The Richard E. Jacobs Group

Description: Pasco hasn't built a mall in decades - not since Gulf View Square Mall came out of the ground along U.S. 19. Here's making up for lost time: Dirt digging began this month on a project that combines a traditional mall with a dressed-up shopping strip. When it opens in 2009, it will draw mostly from retail-starved Land O'Lakes and Wesley Chapel, pulling in New Tampa shoppers for good measure. AMC Theaters and Kohl's are the first of more than 100 tenants. The project's gravitational pull could ground North Tampa's University Mall.

La Entrada

Cost: At least $200-million.

Location: Interstate 275 and Gandy Boulevard, St. Petersburg

Size: More than 1-million square feet on 130 acres.

Owner/Developer: Grady Pridgen Inc.

Description: La Entrada (Spanish for "Gateway, " the name of that part of town) has begun with two large industrial buildings on what used to be a sod farm. They're the headquarters for Valpak, the company that mails coupons to your home, and medical equipment maker Halkey-Roberts. Valpak's is the largest privately owned industrial building ever built in Pinellas County, with more than 10 acres under roof. Next up for La Entrada could be 400 homes, a day care center, fitness center, a bus network and hiking trails. Developer Grady Pridgen, who floats a $1-billion build-out figure, talks about making his ambitious project a "zero carbon" community.

Avion Park

Cost: $160-million

Location: Spruce and O'Brien streets, next to Tampa International Airport.

Size: More than 500 hotel rooms, 4 restaurants, 450, 000-square feet of offices and 25, 000 square feet of retail on 19 acres.

Owner/Developer: McKibbon Hotel Management Inc.

Description: Tampa's Westshore business district holds the region's biggest concentration of offices and hotels, so what's the harm in cramming in a bunch more on this former airport parking lot? This one's got everything a mixed-use project could ask for: places to sleep, eat, shop, work and park. Highwoods Properties will develop and own a 300, 000-square-foot office tower. Hilton and Marriot will build hotels - not too tall on account of low-flying planes - that plan to open in 2008. It's a bit tight so a parking garage will hold nearly 600 cars.

Signature Place

Cost: $165-million

Location: 100 First Ave. S, St. Petersburg

Size: 206 condominiums in 36 stories

Owner/Developer: Cantor Development LLC.

Description: They call it the tallest and most expensive privately owned building in Pinellas County history. Signature won't have the gold-plated cachet of Trump Tower, but it's got one big advantage over its Tampa doppelganger: Vertical construction has actually commenced. Signature will span an entire city block near the waterfront on the former site of the William C. Cramer Federal Building. Office and retail on the lower floors will give Signature big city accoutrements. Look for completion in 2008.

[Last modified June 22, 2007, 22:24:54]