BB&T marketing space in Sarasota

BB&T Corp. is contemplating leaving its long-time office and branch space in downtown Sarasota as soon as next summer in the wake of its merger with SunTrust.

In creating Truist, the two banks have overlapping offices in some markets, including downtown Sarasota, where BB&T occupies the entire ground floor at 1800 Second St. and SunTrust maintains offices less than two blocks away.

Although the bank may ultimately remain in its space – an extension was recently requested that could keep BB&T in place through 2024 — the owner of The Spector Building has retained the Tampa office of Ciminelli Real Estate Services to market the space.

“We’re being flexible with them,” says George Spector, the owner of the nine-story building. “At this point they’re trying to balance their business and real estate needs, and we understand that.”

In all, BB&T occupies 28,487 square feet in the 200,000-square-foot building, according to marketing information on the website LoopNet.

The Spector Building LLC is offering the space for $20 per square foot with a 10-year term, LoopNet notes. In all, 74,658 square feet is available in the building, which was completed in 1985 and extensively renovated in 2017, according to the website.