Commercial Real Estate Profile: Al Rogers

Al Rogers
Executive vice president and senior lender
USAmeribank, Tampa

Al Rogers began his banking career with Charlotte, N.C.-based First Union Corp. in the company's Tampa office in 1987. A decade later, he became a partner and a member of the board of Manufacturers Bank of Florida, a community bank that was sold to Colonial Bank in 2002. Rogers remained at Colonial until 2007, when he joined the then-recently formed USAmeribank. Today, he is an executive vice president and senior lender at USAmeribank, one of the most active commercial real estate lenders along the Gulf Coast. In that capacity, Rogers also is in charge of the bank's commercial lending operations.

How would you describe the current state of the commercial real estate market in the Tampa area?
I think the market is healthy and fairly well balanced, and there's a decent balance between buyers and sellers. Housing has rebounded, which always has a positive effect on commercial real estate, and retail development in particular is pretty brisk. Multifamily, too, has certainly heated up, particularly in urban cores, the result of live-work-play efforts.