With existing tenants 'killing it,' Downtown St. Pete's Sundial close to signing two more deals
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Apr 16, 2015

Rick Baker sums up the state of the restaurants and retailers in the Sundial in three words: "They're killing it."

Baker, president of Sundial owner The Edwards Group, used the phrase in reference to many of the Sundial's tenants on Wednesday evening in a presentation to the Tampa Bay Real Estate Investment Council.

Chico's, for example, is among the stores with the highest sales volume in the company, Baker said.

Developer Bill Edwards, who owns the Tampa Bay Rowdies and a number of commercial properties throughout the city, poured $40 million into the Sundial, an open-air shopping center in the heart of the urban core. And the group is close to signing deals with the last two vacant spaces in the property, which were being used for staging during buildout of other storefronts.

The Sundial features a mix of national and local tenants - national tenants to draw people in, and local shops to give the property a sense of place. Lululemon, White House Black Market and Ruth's Chris Steak House are among the national names; Locale Market, Sea Salt and Jackie Z Style Co. are some of the Gulf Coast-grown businesses in the mix.

Most of the businesses in the Sundial opened in the latter half of 2014. Known for its dining and entertainment venues, downtown St. Pete wasn't a proven market for retail when Sundial opened - but the risk those first tenants took is paying off, Baker said.

"We had to sell the dream, the vision of what it was going to become," said Baker, a former mayor of St. Pete. "And a lot of it was selling our personal credibility."

Baker said five concepts are interested in a 7,000-square-foot restaurant space, though he declined to name any of the potential tenants. And there's interest in the last remaining retail space, which is 2,300 square feet.

Marketing materials listing the Sundial for sale were distributed in early February, with offers due March 26.

Edwards has since said he has "no present plans to sell," and Baker declined comment on the materials. Commercial real estate sources say the marketing materials could have been a way to gauge investor interest in the property- and it's a good time to do that, as prices and interest in downtown St. Pete are rising rapidly.

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