Long wait generates happy ending

Even in a slump of a commercial real estate market, like the current one, an office property that sits vacant for more than three years can be excruciating.

But in one specific case in Hillsborough County, west of Tampa International Airport, persistence has paid off.

The property is a 7,700-square-foot building on West Hillsborough Avenue, a strip where straight-up office spaces, instead of flex buildings, are rare. The previous tenant was a company named Space Age Services Inc. “Large office spaces like that are the exception,” says leasing agent Theresa Margaris, “not the norm.”

Margaris, with Trinity-based Commercial Asset Partners Realty, says in the eyes of prospective tenants, the building's high visibility on a main drag is regularly trumped by being too big. Plus, Margaris tells Coffee Talk, the property, built in 2000, is harder to modify than newer buildings. There are five air-conditioning units, for example, and an older septic system that restricts where bathrooms can move. Says Margaris: “This wasn't a building that lent itself to more than one user.”

Hence, the three-year vacancy.

The wait, though, is over now that IT software consulting firm Checkpoint Technologies moved into the building, which is now its headquarters. Margaris says the space was initially larger than what Checkpoint sought. But she and local Re/Max Realtec Group broker Mark Ganier, who represented the owner, Shelby Randall, got into heavy negotiations.

One key to the ultimate lease, says Margaris, is the landlord was realistic on rates. Many brokers say one of the main factors holding up a market recovery is property owners who overreach on price.

But Checkpoint also budged. The firm paid for significant building improvements, for instance, including new carpet and cubicles for sales staff. “Certainly,” says Margaris, “at the end of the day everyone was happy with the deal.”