Miami firm invests in St. Petersburg retail space

Tricera Capital, a Miami-based firm that has made significant investments in downtown St. Petersburg and Sarasota over the past four years, has acquired the ground-floor retail space in a recently completed apartment tower in St. Petersburg.

Tricera’s purchase of the retail space in the 15-story Icon Central and the adjacent Union Trust Bank Building, at 855 Central Ave., follows deals for more than a dozen other properties in the city.

At Icon Central, a 368-unit project completed early last year by The Related Group, Tricera spent $11.1 million for the 15,000 square feet of retail space.

“This acquisition perfectly complements our existing Central Avenue and broader downtown St. Pete portfolio,” Tricera Co-Founder and Managing Principal Ben Mandell says, in a statement.

“ICON Central is ideally situated in between the Central Business District and the booming Edge District. The location allows us to benefit from the dense office and residential surrounding the property, and also gives us the ability to fully take advantage of the retail synergy in conjunction with our other holdings in the market.”

As part of its latest deal in the city’s Arts District — Tricera also owns 443 Central and 658 Central, to name but a few of its holdings — the company obtained $9.9 million in financing arranged by Berkadia’s Miami and Orlando offices.

Roughly 7,000 square feet of Tricera’s new space is already committed to fast-casual restaurant BurgerFi and Watts Dental.

“We are long-term believers in downtown St. Petersburg and continue to target acquisition opportunities,” Tricera Co-Founder and Managing Principal Scott Sherman says.

“It is particularly exciting that even with the area’s incredible recent activity, there is still so much potential for further growth in the years ahead.”

In all, Tricera owns more than 20 properties totaling in excess of 800,000 square feet.

In January, the company and partner Merrimac Ventures bought a nine-story, 240,000-square-foot office and retail building at 1800 2nd St., in downtown Sarasota, for $35.1 million.