Hydro-Dyne Engineering buys, relocating to Pinellas Park building

BUYER: Squared Martello LLC (manager: Jay Conroy), Oldsmar
SELLER: MDL 1 LLC
PROPERTY: 4750 118th Ave. N., Pinellas Park
PRICE: $5 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $3.19 million, May 2013
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Burr & Forman LLP, Tampa

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:
Hydro-Dyne Engineering Inc. purchased a 107,500-square-foot industrial building for $5 million.

The price equated to $47 per square foot. That figure is less than the two-year average price per square foot for industrial space ($104) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

The building occupies a 8.84-acre site.

Hydro-Dyne Engineering Inc. plans to relocate to the vastly larger facility from its about 20,000-square-foot existing location at 401 Douglas Road E., Oldsmar. The company says the new facility will dramatically expand its manufacturing, service and research and design capacity and improve its logistics network.

The company started looking for a new building a year and half ago, but that search was sped up along with the company's recent employee growth, according to Jay Conroy, Hydro-Dyne Engineering's president. Faced with growing demand, the manufacturer of custom engineered screening and grit removal equipment for water and wastewater facilities started adding employees. In July 2013, it had 35 employees — a year later it has 65 and is looking to expand further.

“We are in a super conservative industry,” Conroy says. “We sell to municipalities and consulting engineers. If a consultant is tasked with a consulting role, they tend to suggest machines that they are familiar with and confident in. So it took us a good 10 to 12 years to build up a pretty good reputation in the industry. The main factor with the building is we are bursting at the seams right now.”

The company is expecting employment growth this year of another 30% to 50%.

Along with more space for staff, the company plans to use a portion of the much larger building for presentation and conference space. In addition, the additional land should allow Hydro-Dyne Engineering to service, test and produce larger equipment, some of which can reach four or five stores.

The company plans to renovate the property and occupy it in about two months. It has budgeted more than $1 million for the improvements.

Deron Thomas, president of Industrial Realty Solutions Inc., represented Hydro-Dyne Engineering in the purchase. He says that the building is likely the largest existing (not built to suit) industrial building in Pinellas County.

Hydro-Dyne Engineering financed the purchase using $4.85 million in industrial development revenue bonds through Branch Banking and Trust Co. The Pinellas County Economic Development assisted the firm in obtaining the bonds.