For Tampa Bay real estate and retail, the best is yet to come
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jan 2, 2015

The last year was a good one for Tampa Bay's real estate and retail industries, but make no mistake about it: 2015 is on track to be even better.

Tampa's urban core

Between the beginnings of Tampa Bay Lightning Owner Jeff Vinik's billion-dollar vision and several smaller projects around downtown Tampa, 2015 should be transformational for downtown Tampa.

If those are successful in commanding rents high enough to turn a profit, expect to see even more residential projects planned. The urban core is also approaching a tipping point for retail, on the verge of having enough of a population base to sustain restaurants and retail - exactly what's needed to create vibrant streets.

Keep your eye on the neighborhoods that ring the urban core. With new developments planned in Seminole Heights, Tampa Heights and Ybor City, those urban neighborhoods may see a revitalization movement of their own.

Downtown St. Petersburg

Expect more of a business presence to emerge in downtown St. Pete in 2015.

The headquarters of tech firm iQor U.S. Inc. will move into the Tower at One Progress Plaza, and Tampa investor Larry Feldman is renovating the Morgan Stanley Tower and First Central Tower -and will be on the hunt for tenants for both. Convergent Capital Partners is also looking to bring new corporate citizens to downtown St. Pete, with one of the acquisitions it made in 2014: The former Universal Health Care building.

Retailers rising

Expect to see more new retailers enter the Tampa Bay market in 2015, drawn here by job and population growth.

There is a shortage of suitable storefronts, but the demand could push rents high enough to justify the cost of redevelopment, especially in the highly coveted South Tampa corridor.

This will also be a big year for big projects - the Tampa Premium Outlets in Wesley Chapel are under construction and slated to open in October, bringing a bevy of new shopping options to Pasco County.

Construction should begin in 2015 on a redevelopment of International Plaza's BayWalk corridor. The Tampa mall is set to demolish the former Champp's American space and an adjacent restaurant space to make way for a new 46,980-square-foot space that's likely for Restoration Hardware, which has been building opulent new stores across the country.

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