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No one's biting offer for Tampa restaurant
By SCOTT BARANCIK
© St. Petersburg Times, TAMPA -- To attract an upscale restaurant to its downtown site, one of Tampa's best-known high-rises is circulating an extraordinary offer: Agree to open a restaurant in our building, say the owners of the cylindrical high-rise known as 400 North Ashley Plaza, and we'll give you $1.5-million for construction, plus free rent.
While such upscale restaurants as the Cheesecake Factory and Maggiano's Little Italy swarm to the nearby West Shore district, they are steering clear of center city. The reason? Downtown Tampa lacks adequate parking and is desolate at night and on weekends -- the very hours when restaurants typically do their best business. These are not idle concerns. The Hyatt Regency Tampa has shut down its Center City Cafe for the summer to test whether the restaurant would be better used as meeting space. The building next door, 3 Tampa City Center, recently gave up on finding a taker for its empty restaurant space after a hunt of several years. Nickalouie's CDB's Uptown, one of the last non-hotel restaurants downtown, closed June 1 after nearly 20 years in business.It doesn't help that the days of the three-martini expense account lunch are long gone. "Without more people living in and near downtown, it's hard to get them back for evening dining," said Jim Cloar, president of the Tampa Downtown Partnership. "There's simply nothing that pulls people in," said Jim Roberts, a commercial real estate agent with Colliers Arnold of Tampa.
Colonnade Properties LLC, the New York company that bought the building last year for $49.5-million, has hired Cushman & Wakefield of Miami to find a restaurant of stature. The building's manager, the Wilson Co. of Tampa, also is searching for a willing partner. Despite the goodies they offer, the company has met little but rejection so far. Among those passing on the deal were the Palm Restaurant, which opened this month at Westshore Plaza, and Restaurant Associates, a company whose properties include three eateries at Rockefeller Center in New York. "Morton's (of Chicago steakhouse) has driven through downtown and said, "I don't see it,' " said Greg Masin, who is handling the restaurant search for Cushman & Wakefield. Colonnade's quest for a white-tablecloth dining room is partly a defensive move. Its two largest tenants -- Bank of America and the Holland & Knight law firm, which together occupy 60 percent of the 500,000-square-foot building -- have pressed hard for a restaurant their employees can use. Bank of America has decided to close its subsidized dining facility by year-end. Holland is threatening to exercise an option that would cut short its lease by several years. The building's existing restaurant does not serve dinner. Given that the building is already 20 percent vacant, a certain urgency prevails. The drive for a restaurant is also part of an effort by Colonnade to refashion the "beer can" building, as it is informally known, into something more like a Chablis. The Class A skyscraper has handsome interiors, offers spectacular views from the top floor and abuts the Hillsborough River as well as a charming public park. Outdoor seating would let future diners take advantage of the view. But the building has no curbside parking and is several blocks from the perceived epicenter of downtown high-rises. To change that image, Colonnade is taking a number of steps. It is spending $1.5-million to build a circular driveway for passenger drop-offs and valet parking. It is negotiating with the University of South Florida to locate a contemporary arts center in an attached low-rise dubbed the "cube." It also is toying with loftier-sounding addresses, such as One Arts Plaza or One Museum Row. And in casual conversation, its minions are referring to the 1987 structure as the "round" building. The ultimate goal is to be able to raise leasing rates. Like many high-rises downtown, the building currently collects $18 to $20 per square foot. To make the most on its investment, rents must go up. Masin said the key to filling 400 North Ashley is to challenge the conventional wisdom about downtown Tampa. Too far from residential areas? It's no farther than Bern's or Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, he said. Empty at night? Not when you consider the crowds visiting the Tampa Convention Center, the Ice Palace, the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center and nearby hotels. If a good restaurant was built, the people would come, he said. "How hard is it to drive across the bridge, valet your car, and sit by the river?" he asked. Roger Mullarkey, vice president of leasing and marketing at Colonnade, said it's just a matter of time before a top restaurateur recognizes the building's promise. "I don't know if it'll be a national chain," he said, "but it's going to be a destination restaurant." Colonnade might end up using its portfolio of more than 30 properties to leverage a deal, said Barry Hanerfeld, managing director of commercial realty services at Wilson. Under that scenario, a restaurant that wanted access to one of Colonnade's hottest properties, such as the Peachtree Center in Atlanta, might be admitted under one condition: that it set up shop in downtown Tampa, too. -- Scott Barancik can be reached at barancik@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8751.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
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From the Times Business report
From the AP
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