Former Trump Tower site sells for $2.5 million

BUYER: Brownstone Tampa Partners LLC (principals: Robert Owens and Brownstone Investment Group Inc.), Winter Park
SELLER: Branch Banking and Trust Co.
PROPERTY: 11 S. Ashley Drive, Tampa
PRICE: $2.5 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $16 million, 2004

SELLER: Eagle FL I SPE LLC
PROPERTY: 102 W. Whiting St., Tampa
PRICE: $2.5 million
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Holland & Knight LLP, Tampa

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Tampa investment group Brownstone Tampa Partners LLC purchased the 1.67-acre site of the proposed Trump Tower Tampa and the adjacent 67,487-square-foot CapTrust building for $5 million.

The six-story Class-B office building was more than 60% leased at the time of the sale. A spokesperson for the new ownership says it is considering developing the properties in a mixture of uses, including apartment and condominium units, retail spaces and restaurants and/or possibly a boutique hotel.

Brownstone Tampa Partners LLC is an investment partnership of O,R&L Facility Services, Owens Realty Network LLC and Community Reinvestment Partners II LP. Community Reinvestment Partners II LP is a joint venture itself, of Forge Capital Partners LLC and Tampa-based DeBartolo Development LLC.

O,R&L says it was attracted to the vacant site because of its large-scale development potential. Bob Owens, president and CEO of O,R&L, says the company chose to partner with Forge and DeBartolo because of their development expertise.

“The nature of this project, with an existing revenue-producing, multi-tenant office building and an adjacent, highly-prized development parcel, affords us the opportunity to let the market come to us,” Edward Kobel, president and CEO of DeBartolo Development, says in a press release.

Jarib Rodriguez and Rick Klepal with CB Richard Ellis in Tampa represented the seller. Owens Realty Network represented the buyer and will continue to market the CapTrust building space.

“The previous owners were hit with an exponential rise in development costs when a geotechnical study of the land revealed requirements for expensive structural procedures,” Rodriguez says in a press release. “The new ownership has [a] complete understanding [of the] site's development capacities.