An iconic downtown St. Petersburg office tower has sold, granting its new owner an even bigger slice of the downtown office market.
Feldman Equities and its partners acquired 200 Central Ave., a 28-story landmark office building that anchors St. Pete’s business district, on Thursday for an undisclosed price. The firm plans to invest more than $20 million in capital improvements. A deed for the sale has not yet been recorded in Pinellas County property records.
The St. Pete-based commercial real estate firm is known for acquiring well-located but underperforming office assets and investing in them. Feldman Equities and its joint-venture partners own or manage more than 2 million square feet of Florida office space. In downtown St. Pete, Feldman Equities owns First Central Tower, Morgan Stanley Tower and City Center.
The addition of 200 Central brings the firm's portfolio to 1 million square feet of office space in downtown St. Pete. That's about half of the 2.05 million square feet of the office space in St. Pete's central business district, according to CBRE's first quarter report.
“Our continued investment in downtown St. Petersburg’s office market is a vote of confidence in this city’s future,” said Mack Feldman, vice president at Feldman Equities. “200 Central is the address of choice for premier tenants in Tampa Bay, and we intend to build on that reputation.”
Their strategy has long been to buy right, modernize the space and aggressively lease. Feldman Equities-owned buildings have all undergone multimillion-dollar renovations. The firm is also known for its hands-on management and local broker relationships.
Through a joint venture that includes The Youngquist Family and Equity Street Capital, the 308,000-square-foot building will get an over $20 million makeover. The plans include modernizing the building’s mechanical, electrical and HVAC systems, new elevators and upgrades to safety systems, refreshed common areas and enhancements to the building envelope. This investment builds on prior lobby, mezzanine and skybridge renovations.
200 Central is home to tenants including Raymond James, Merrill Lynch, Interactive Communications and Trenam Law, among others. It sits at the corner of Central Avenue and Second Street, which is considered downtown St. Pete’s “main and main” address. Ground-floor restaurants include Craft Kafe, Taverna Costale and Naked Farmer.
Third Lake Capital, the Tampa-based investment fund for Ashley Furniture Inc.'s Wanek family, has owned the office tower since 2017, when it acquired the building for $65.75 million, according to property records.
St. Pete’s live-work-play urban core faced a shortage of places to work even before the Covid-19 pandemic. Its central business district outperforms neighboring submarkets in the Tampa Bay region with high rent growth and low vacancy, which are driven by tight supply.
New office construction is rare due to financial feasibility. Feldman Equities is part of the team developing the Waldorf Astoria Residences, a 50-story luxury condo tower, which is slated to include 73,000 square feet of office.