Bank spends nearly $60 million on facility for employees in Tampa

Naples/Fort Myers

Build, rent, repeat: Naples real estate private equity firm Halstatt Real Estate Partners is starting construction on its new build-to-rent community in Fort Myers, dubbed Argos by Soltura. The new community, being developed along with Soltura Development Group, will be within five miles of the firm’s two others — Odyssey by Soltura and Altair by Soltura — for a total of 429 units. Argos by Soltura will be made up of 140 one-, two-, and three-bedroom units in a two-story cottage format. Each home will have a private first floor entryway and private fenced-in backyards with patios, giving each unit an additional 533 square feet.

Up in smoke: Some Collier County property owners won’t be cashing in on one of the hottest retail trends in the country. Collier County commissioners on Feb. 14 unanimously voted to ban medical marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated parts of county. The ordinance was passed, according to the agenda item introducing the ordinance, “to protect the health, safety and welfare of citizens.” Marijuana is only allowed to be sold for medical purposes in Florida and dispensaries have been booming along the Gulf Coast, with companies taking thousands of often hard-to-lease square feet and several chains opening multiple locations. MJBIZ Factbook, an industry publication, reports retail sales of cannabis in the U.S. passed $33 billion in 2022 and will exceed $52 billion by the end of 2026. The publication expects 2022 medical marijuana sales in Florida to fall somewhere between $1.3 billion and $1.5 billion.

Tampa/St. Petersburg

Westshore office sells: The Bridgeport Center in Tampa has sold. The office building was bought by the private equity investor MHCommercial Real Estate Fund II and Siguler Guff & Co. for $40 million, according to a press release. The nine story, 180,247-square-foot building is at 5201 W. Kennedy Blvd. in the Westshore commercial district. The new owners plan to make significant upgrades and to create spec suites. The building’s anchor tenant is Delta Airlines and 83% of tenants are global and national companies.

A banker's life for me: Citi unveiled a new nearly $60 million amenities building on the bank’s 100-acre Tampa campus last week. The building is a renovation of an existing edifice on the property. The 113,000-square-foot amenities center is a modern food hall of sorts that includes about a half-dozen food vendors and Starbucks along with areas for the 10,000 employees working on the site to eat, gather and work.

 In addition, there is a fitness center, medical center, physical therapist, a nutritionist and, on the second floor, open collaboration spaces, meeting rooms and conference rooms. Nick Della Serra,  Tampa site president for Citi, says the company built the new center because “we want to continue to invest in our employee base here.” The campus, which is on Tampa’s east side, is microcosm of Citi and one of the company’s largest facilities, he says. Employees on the campus work in several areas, including wealth management, human resources, legal compliance, internal audit risk, operations and technology.

Room at the inn: A Residence Inn by Marriott in Pasco County has sold for $18.25 million. The property is at 2101 Northpointe Pkwy. just off the Suncoast Parkway. The buyers, according to county property records, are three LLCs who  happen to share an address in Miami. The address, according to state records, also belongs to Doral Hospitality Inc. In other local hotel news, the Palm Grove Inn at 711 3rd Ave. S. in St. Petersburg has sold. The property, according to Pinellas County property records, was bought by an LLC with the same address as the Tampa investment firm Third Lake Partners. It paid $6.35 million. It’s unclear if the 74 room, three-story Palm Grove Inn is still open. A property manager for the inn did not return a call for comment.

Sarasota/Manatee

Senior center sells: Bradenton Oaks has sold. The senior home facility was bought by an LLC with a Fort Lauderdale address for $6.9 million, according to Manatee County property records. The 112-unit facility at 1029 7th Ave. E. was built in 1973. According to a press release from Grandbridge Real Estate Capital, the seller also sold the 145-unit Bayside Terrace in Pinellas Park and one in Sandford. According to the release, the communities were operating at low occupancies and an operational loss at the time of sale.

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