Church of Scientology buys Ybor Square

BUYER: Church of Scientology of Tampa Inc., Clearwater

SELLER: Zybor Inc.

PROPERTY: 1911 N. 13th St., Tampa

PRICE: $7.05 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $3.96 million

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Broad and Cassel, Orlando

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: The Church of Scientology purchased Ybor Square for $7.05 million.

The price equated to $78 per square foot.

The 90,103-square-foot historic warehouse building is home to The Spaghetti Warehouse Restaurant, the Creative Loafing newspaper and several executive-office suites.

The church plans to occupy 70,000 square feet in the building. It also plans to sell its 23,000-square-foot church in West Tampa and its Ybor City Life Improvement Center.

“It will be triple the size [of our existing facilities],” says Lisa Mansell, community affairs director for the church. “We needed bigger quarters because we had outgrown our Habana [Avenue] property almost as soon as we opened. The building is in very good condition. We will work to preserve the historic integrity of the building.”

The Spaghetti Warehouse Restaurant and Creative Loafing will continue to lease space in the building. The Church of Scientology is negotiating with the other existing tenants to help them find alternative space, according to Mansell.

Ybor Square is one of the more traditional buildings in Ybor City. Vicente Martinez Ybor, the city's founder and namesake, built it as a cigar factory in 1894.