World Series runner-up buys Clearwater shopping center

The Philadelphia Phillies aren’t getting a World Series ring, but the team is getting a piece of property next to its training facility in Clearwater. And by get, we mean it paid $22.5 million for the retail development, about $3.5 million less than what it pays for a year of Bryce Harper’s services.

According to the commercial real estate firm Avison Young, an affiliate of the team bought the 13-acre, 134,362-square-foot Clearwater Collection retail center next to BayCare Ballpark at 21800 U.S. Highway 19 N. The property was a distressed asset that went into bankruptcy and the sale was handled by the firm and the court-appointed receiver.

The seller was Clearwater Collection 15, an LLC with a Denver mailing address.

The center is currently 51% vacant after a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant in the center closed. The remaining 49% is leased by Floor & Décor, which has five years remaining on its lease.

A spokesperson says there are no plans to “lease up” and that Floor & Décor will remain. As for what the team will use the property for in the future, that is not clear. The announcement did say, though, that “control of the land affords them the opportunity to plan for future redevelopment near the park.”

BayCare Ballpark opened in 2004. It is the spring training home of the team and the home of the Clearwater Threshers, a Minor League Baseball team.

While the stadium is 18 years old, the Phillies’ first came to Clearwater for spring training in 1947, and the complex where the stadium is located was built in 1967.