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City officials tentatively pick Grady Pridgen's bid of $5-million for the site of a new office park.
By SHARON L. BOND
© St. Petersburg Times, published September 8, 2001
ST. PETERSBURG -- Business park builder Grady Pridgen is the choice of city officials to buy and develop a 122-acre tract in the Gateway area once considered for a baseball stadium.
Pridgen, who developed two office and manufacturing parks near the north St. Petersburg tract, called "the sod farm," offered the city $5-million for the land.
"We're very excited about it. It's the last great piece of manufacturing land in Pinellas County," Pridgen said. "We plan on building 600,000 square feet of high technology and medical manufacturing space."
Pridgen said the total project when finished would exceed $40-million.
His selection as developer won't be final until approved by the St. Petersburg City Council. Now in progress is a 45- to 60-day negotiating period in which contract details are being worked out. Then the matter goes to the council.
Pridgen, 42, won over three other bidders, including an offer from Pinellas County government. The county wanted the land for solid waste disposal. The sod farm, bounded by 94th Avenue N, 28th Street, Interstate 275 and 102nd Avenue N, sits next to the existing waste recovery facility.
The city decided to sell the land to expand its economic base. The tract is located in an area currently experiencing a lot of growth, much of it commercial.
"We felt most comfortable with his ability to develop the site," said Kevin Dunn of Pridgen. Dunn is managing director of development coordination for the city. He and three other city officials formed the selection committee.
"Grady is willing to build out the entire space without any conditions. . . . That was the biggest thing. His bid didn't have any strings attached," Dunn said.
Pridgen's bid of $5-million also was the highest submitted. The county offered $4.6-million. Harrod Properties of Largo offered $3.6-million and said it had an out-of-state company that wanted to put its headquarters on the site. Porpoise Pool & Patio Inc. in Clearwater, parent of Pinch A Penny pool, patio and spa, offered $3.2-million. It planned to put its operations on part of the site and develop another portion for similar companies.
The sod farm was among the sites considered for a baseball stadium before Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg was built. It was thought to be a good location because it was farther north and would more easily pull fans from Tampa and Clearwater.
In the recent bidding, the city asked for proposals that showed development of 600,000 square feet on the sod farm site. They wanted companies that would bring a minimum of 1,800 jobs, complete construction in five years and privately finance the project.
The proposal Pridgen submitted targeted 2,000 jobs. He said he is talking to several prospective tenants but that serious negotiations would not begin until the land purchase and permitting are finalized. Manufacturing companies want their spaces fast, Pridgen said. Often they won't commit until walls are going up.
So Pridgen will build the park on speculation, as he is doing at Gateway Business Park at I-275 and Gandy Boulevard.
"In the last three years, we have built and leased over 1-million square feet of high-tech and manufacturing (space). One hundred percent of it was leased by the time we finished the projects."
The first phase of the new park, which he said he is calling Gateway Business Park West, will include 200,000 square feet.