New tenants take 40,000 square feet at recently renovated Sarasota building

Shortly after completing $1.2 million in improvements to the Offices at Atria in downtown Sarasota, the building’s owners have leased about 40,000 square feet of space.

Kimley-Horn, a nationally recognized planning and design engineering firm with an office already in the city, is taking about 30,000 square feet of that space. Heavy Business Automation is taking about 8,000 square feet.

Kimley-Horn has already moved into its new space, and Heavy Business is scheduled to follow in March 2023.

Dustin Ballard, the executive vice president head of office leasing for the Miami commercial real estate firm Tricera Capital, says the two “leases demonstrate not only the commitment to office space from businesses of all sizes but also our belief in the importance of creating high-quality office space as a way to attract and retain top talent.”

Tricera bought the nine-story, two tower, 250,000-square-foot Offices at Atria at 1800 Second St. in 2020 for $35.1 million. At the time, the company gave it its current name in honor of its open-air atriums.

It owns the red brick building along with LNDMRK Development and Merrimac Ventures.

The $1.2 million improvement plan, completed in May, brought new lighting, furniture and seating areas to the lobbies as well as improvements to the atrium and outdoor seating areas, including artificial turf meeting spaces, Wi-Fi and seating.

The company says it also used the renovation to add spec suites for immediate occupancy.

Along with the Kimley-Horn and Heavy Business Automation, the firm says there’s been interest “from coworking and executive suite operators.”

Kevin Robbins with Harry E. Robbins Associates, which is handling the leasing for the building, says the market is responding well to the individual spaces and upgrades. “We are uniquely suited to cater to tenants of all sizes, giving smaller users an opportunity to grow over time.”