Shumaker renews, expands office lease in downtown Tampa
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Aug 26, 2022

One of Tampa Bay’s largest law firms will expand its office in the central business district.

Shumaker Loop & Kendrick LLP has renewed its lease in Bank of America Plaza, where it will occupy 60,739 square feet. Shumaker now occupies three full floors in the tower and increased its footprint by 10%. The lease runs through 2037.

The firm had 120 local attorneys at the end of 2021, according to Tampa Bay Business Journal data.

Mike Griffin, Savills Tampa market leader, represented the law firm in the lease transaction. Barry Hanerfeld and Phil Weber of CBRE Group Inc. represented the landlord, a partnership of Banyan Street Capital of Miami and Los Angeles-based Oaktree Capital Management.

An office lease expansion like Shumaker’s is significant in 2022, when many businesses are shrinking their office footprints due to hybrid work models. For example, law firm GrayRobinson will move from Truist Place to Bank of America Plaza and reduce its square footage by 18%.

Shumaker’s space is triple the average office tenant’s footprint in the Tampa Bay area, which is between 10,000 and 20,000 square feet.

“This new lease furthers Shumaker’s commitment to the growth of Tampa Bay,” Ron Christaldi, Shumaker Tampa managing partner and president and CEO of Shumaker Advisors Florida, said in a statement. “With offices in Sarasota, Pasco, Tallahassee and Tampa, Shumaker’s proximity to our clients and the business community is a priority.”