Another office building sprouts on Roosevelt

A $3-million facility is the latest addition to the swiftly filling landscape near the St. Petersburg-Clearwater airport.

By ERIC STIRGUS

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 27, 2000

LARGO -- Rubin Management has started construction on a $3-million, three-story office building along a stretch of Roosevelt Boulevard just west of the Bayside Bridge, a burgeoning hotspot for office development.

Rubin is the third company in the last two years to begin building office space along the stretch of Roosevelt between the bridge and 58th Street N. "This area is starting to open up to that sort of office building," said Donna Lance, the Largo-based company's general manager. "It has tremendous potential."

The area is a short drive from St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport, the Pinellas County Criminal Justice complex and Interstate 275.

"Location, location, location. Isn't that what they always say?" said Buzz David, Pinellas County's economic development director. In recent years, vacant land near the airport has become hard to find, David said. The 2,000 acres of available land once there has dropped to a few precious acres, he said.

"There is not a lot of vacant space left in the area," David said.

The location of the new building, on Roosevelt just west of Bolesta Road, is perfect, Lance said. Several law offices have inquired about leasing space in the new building, drawn by its proximity to the courthouse. The company also has received some interest from education and medical industry representatives.

The office is being modeled after New York-style brownstone buildings. It will have 25,000 square feet of space. Lance said businesses who lease space will pay an annual rate of $13 per square foot. The minimum requirement is 1,900 square feet. Maintenance costs will be an additional $5.50 per square foot each year.

Construction is scheduled to be finished by November.

Hoping to take advantage of the wealth of businesses in the area is Network Engineering Solutions. The company, which specializes in financial accounting, training support and business consulting services, has plans to move its headquarters from Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard to a lot on the south side of Roosevelt near Westminister Avenue. In December, the county approved the company's plans to build a one-level, 3,300 square foot office on that lot.

The company said it will have a training center, which will be accessible for area businesses.

"It is a very professional area," said Pedro Remon, the company's sales manager.

Rubin also has 2.5 acres on a grassy stretch near the southbound Bayside Bridge exit. The company is deciding whether to build a 58,000 square foot office building or a 100-room hotel on the land.

Rubin's property is near the headquarters of Digital Lightwave, a company that designs and makes test equipment for fiber optic lines. Digital Lightwave opened a 90,000-square-foot office building there in November 1998.

Bill Rooney, Digital Lightwave's corporate communications director, said the company saw the area as a "strategic location," close to the airport and several hotels along Ulmerton Road that cater to business clients.

Most employees, especially those who live in Tampa or in south Pinellas County, prefer the new offices as opposed to the previous headquarters in downtown Clearwater, Rooney said.

"I don't think there is a better spot for accessibility," he said.

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