Superior Group to move to downtown St. Pete office tower
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jan 5, 2023

The Superior Group of Companies is relocating its Seminole headquarters to downtown St. Petersburg.

Wendy Giffin, senior director at Cushman & Wakefield Inc., confirmed the company has leased an entire floor of office tower 200 Central, which is roughly 8,200 square feet. Giffin said with this headquarters move, 200 Central is now fully leased.

The move will reduce Superior’s physical footprint, and the company will be filling one of the few remaining office spaces downtown.

"Superior exemplifies yet another example of the continued desire for companies to locate to a vibrant, active, and walkable urban area with the many amenities that downtown St. Pete offers," said Giffin, who leases the building for owner Third Lake Capital, in a statement.

The company, which creates uniforms for industries like health care, hospitality, food service and retail, sold its approximately 60,000-square-foot headquarters at 10055 Seminole Blvd. to LeDuong Investment LLC. According to Steve Klein of Klein & Heuchan Inc., the entity is linked to Zurno Inc., a company that repackages supplies for the nail salon industry. Steve Klein and Mark Klein represented the seller in the transaction.

Superior (Nasdaq: SGC) sold the facility and the nearly 14-acre property for $5.075 million in late December, according to a Pinellas County deed. Steve Klein said only approximately 7 acres of the site are usable as it abuts Lake Seminole and contains marshlike areas.

Superior built the Seminole facility in the late 1970s and used the site initially for manufacturing, distribution and corporate office space. Over time much of the manufacturing and distribution was moved out of the facility, and it was used primarily as office, though the manufacturing infrastructure remained. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the company realized it didn’t need so much space and began looking to relocate.

The property's zoning was for general office, and Superior worked with the buyer and the county to get it rezoned for industrial use.

Steve Klein said there remains a huge demand for industrial, manufacturing and warehouse facilities in Pinellas County, and due to the lack of land, repurposing has become a priority for many companies wanting to come to the area.

The Seminole facility has 14-foot high ceilings and approximately 11,000 square feet of warehouse space with ground-level loading and docking. There are also 281 parking spaces on site.

Superior opened a $200 million credit facility last year to refinance existing debt as it worked through a glut of inventory from the pandemic. Despite increasing sales by more than 12% last quarter, the company reported a $12.7 million net loss after a decline in market value and $21.5 million impairment charge.

CEO Michael Benstock said the company anticipates rising interest rates, inflation and “softness” in the health care apparel market to continue to impact earnings, and that efforts to diversify into new markets are just beginning to contribute to Superior’s bottom line.

— Reporter Christina Georgacopoulos contributed to this report.