Sources: Westshore pioneer Al Austin's office buildings under contract for redevelopment deal
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Oct 2, 2014

The complex of office buildings that late Westshore pioneer Al Austin started developing in the 1960s is under contract to be sold.

Redstone Investments, which has offices in Tampa and Youngstown, Ohio, plans to buy the five buildings that make up the Austin Center, according to real estate sources, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the deal.

Austin, a Tampa civic leader and Republican fundraiser, died in May at the age of 85.

Neither Redstone CEO Jonathan Levy nor a representative of the Austin Center were immediately available for comment Thursday morning. Sources say Redstone is considering a mix of commercial uses on the site, including retail and residential components.

The buildings, which front North Westshore Boulevard north of its intersection with West Cypress Street, total about 300,000 square feet and are adjacent to Jefferson High School. A parking lot next to the high school has been identified by state and county leaders as a possible site for a multimodal transportation hub - a place that could connect all types of transit, from buses to taxis to commuter rail. The Austin Center's location in Westshore - home to 12 million square feet of office space and more than 93,000 office workers, as well as a population base of nearly 14,000 and growing with several apartment developments in the works - makes it an ideal redevelopment play for a mixed-use project. Add in the potential of a multimodal hub, and the location is even more desirable.

Redstone is a retail developer, and a source said the company would likely bring in a multifamily developer for that portion of the project. Publix Supermarkets Inc., long rumored to be looking for a site in Westshore, could be a candidate for the project, and Redstone has done deals with Publix previously.

Westshore, despite its office and household base, does not have a grocery store; the closest stores are a Publix on South Dale Mabry Highway and Trader Joe's at South Dale Mabry and Swann Avenue.

Ashley Gurbal Kritzer is a reporter for the Tampa Bay Business Journal.