Downtown Tampa skyscraper Element sells for $98 million
By Drew Harwell
Tampa Bay Times
Published: Oct 22, 2013

TAMPA - One of downtown Tampa's tallest, sleekest and most recognizable skyscrapers was sold last week for $98 million, property records show.

Element, the 35-story apartment tower at 808 N Franklin St., was bought by a firm tied to Crescent Heights, a Miami-based luxury high-rise developer that also owns Tampa apartment complexes the Slade and Lexington Park.

The blue-glass, postmodern skyscraper shadows the popular Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park. At 460 feet, it is the fifth-tallest building in Tampa, taller even than its towering twin, SkyPoint, nearby.

A Chicago-based partnership of private investors and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. acquired the tower in 2010 after its developer defaulted on a construction loan.

The tower was listed for sale earlier this year as part of a big condo and apartment bundle valued at nearly $1 billion.

Dreamed up as condos that would sell for up to $1 million, Element was retooled into apartments when it opened in 2009 due to the condo market's nosedive.

An executive with investor group ST Residential told the Tampa Bay Times in February that "the sale will mean nothing" for tenants in the tower's 395 units.

But several local towers converted to rentals after the crash have recently been "reverted" back to luxury condos as prices and demand have recovered.

Messages left with Crescent Heights were not immediately returned.

Contact Drew Harwell at (727) 893-8252 or dharwell@tampabay.com.