Commercial Development News - Appraisal Development International

TECO Plaza sells for $22 million
By Mark Holan
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Apr 30, 2013

TECO Plaza, headquarters for Tampa Electric Co., the principal subsidiary ofTECO Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: TE), has been sold for $22 million.

Sarasota-based Benderson Development Co., one of the nation's largest privately held real estate companies, bought the building from an institutional partnership Franklin Street Association LTD.

The nine-story, 277,454-square-foot office building, 702 N. Franklin St. in downtown Tampa, was a build-to-suit for TECO and opened in 1981. The current market value is about $20 million.

Benderson and Taubman Centers Inc. (NYSE: TCO) are building the 880,000-square-foot The Mall at University Town Center in Sarasota.

In Tampa, Benderson owns Palm River Square at 78th Street North and Palm River Road. The company owns additional office and industrial buildings in Sarasota, Bradenton, University Park and Port Charlotte.

Camille Renshaw of Stan Johnson Co. represented the seller.

A unique component of the transaction was the extremely competitive nature of the bid process as more than twenty groups intensely sought the purchase, according to Renshaw. The result was a sales price with a +/-5.78 percent cash-on-cash return to the buyer.

About 600 TECO employees work in the building. The company will continue to lease the building, a spokeswoman said.

Mark Holan's beats include commercial real estate and residential real estate.