Quay future gelling

The new owner of the vacant Sarasota Quay tract in downtown Sarasota has retained an Orlando and Tampa architectural firm and hired a seasoned real estate veteran to help push plans for the 15-acre, waterfront site forward.

GreenPointe Holdings' hiring of Baker Barrios Architects comes seven months after the Jacksonville developer acquired the Quay land for $27 million.

GreenPointe also has retained Rick Harcrow, the former senior vice president of operations for Newland Real Estate Group, as project representative. San Diego-based Newland has developed more than 20 million square feet of commercial space and 140 communities nationwide, including FishHawk Ranch, in Tampa.

“We're very early on in the overall development process,” Harcrow says of the Quay site, which is considered to be among the most valuable undeveloped tracts in Florida.

Founded in 1993, Baker Barrios has designed numerous high-end projects, including the 31-story 55 West, in Orlando, and the 150-unit Aspire Apartments in Orlando's One Eleven complex, according to its website.

Baker Barrios will work together with real estate services firm Stantec on the Quay, Harcrow says.

“We like complicated, urban infill projects that tend to have a lot of moving parts,” he added. “And there are so many exciting things going on in the downtown Sarasota area.”

Under entitlements granted in 2007, GreenPointe could build 700 residences, a 175-room hotel and office and retail space on the Quay site.

Renewals reign in Tampa
Four of the five largest office deals in Tampa last year involved lease renewals, a sign that the urban core is tightening further amid shrinking inventory for Class A space.

Of the 13 downtown office towers containing some 5.4 million square feet tracked by brokerage firm JLL's Skyline report, only three — the 31-story Rivergate Tower, the 10-story Times Building and the 22-story Franklin Exchange — have occupancy of less than 80%.

JLL concludes the lack of space could result in a new tower in coming years, after a dearth of development going back a decade.