Door manufacturer consolidates headquarters in Ybor City

Masonite has signed a long-term lease for the former Kforce building  at 1001 E. Palm Ave. in Ybor City, moving its two Ybor City corporate offices under one roof. 

The move for Masonite will consolidate its national headquarters, including the Ybor City office at the old Larmon Furniture Warehouse at 1205 E. 5th Ave., which it occupied in 2016.

Masonite is expected to move into the former Kforce building by the end of the year, according to a statement. 

Kforce moved to the fifth floor of the Midtown West tower in November 2022 after an April 2021 announcement that it sold the Ybor City campus to Tampa developer Darryl Shaw and Alliant Partners Development. Kforce had occupied the building since 2001 but needed a smaller headquarters.

A designer and manufacturer of interior and exterior doors and door systems, Masonite is one of the largest publicly traded companies in Tampa Bay. On the list of Gulf Coast publicly traded companies, Masonite was ranked No. 8 in the Business Observer's 2023 Big Book of Business. Its 2022 revenue was $2.9 billion, up 11.35% from 2021.

And Masonite will be even larger as part of an Ohio building-materials giant. Masonite agreed on Feb. 9 to be acquired by Owens Corning of Ohio in a $3.8 billion deal.

Both companies say Masonite will retain its brand and remain in Tampa.

"Masonite is a valuable community partner and asset," says Shaw, who purchased the Kforce building with Carlos Alfonso, Frank Capitano and Spencer Muratides of Alliant Partners Development in 2021. "We are excited that we could help the company find an ideal space to bring their Tampa Bay team together under one roof while remaining right here in Ybor."

Masonite currently leases two Ybor buildings: one at 1242 E. 5th Ave., which was constructed in 2020, and the historic Larmon Furniture Warehouse, which it has occupied since 2016, according to the news release.

The buildings, in the heart of the GasWorx district, will come available for lease after Masonite's relocation, Shaw and Alliant Partners Development say.

As part of the long-term lease for the East Palm Avenue building, the Masonite team will have collaborative and private workspaces on all four floors, covered parking and other amenities, the developers say.

The administrative offices of the Tampa Bay Sun FC women's professional soccer team are also located in the former Kforce building, the developers say.

The brokers in the deal included Jackson Kilcoyne and Ryan Reynolds with CBRE and Scott Garlick with Cushman and Wakefield.