Park Tower in downtown Tampa sells for nearly $80 million

A downtown Tampa high rise has changed ownership.
 
City Office REIT, Feldman Equities and Tower Realty Partners have joined to buy the 36-story Park Tower at 400 N. Tampa St. from Sterling Equities and joint owner PT Associates for $79.95 million. Colliers International Tampa Bay brokered the sale.
 
The 475,000-square-foot building is 86 percent leased, and anchor tenants include BB&T, United States Department of Justice – US Attorney’s Office, Level 3 Communications and Lykes Insurance.
 
The building was Tampa's first high rise, according to Sterling Equities. It was built in 1973 and overlooks the Hillsborough River, the Tampa Riverwalk and Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park.
 
Sterling Equities bought the property in 2006 from Colonial Properties Trust. Since then, Sterling Equities has invested $5.8 million in capital improvements into Park Tower to modernize common areas, upgrade electrical and lighting systems, and add improved finishes. The new owners plan to continue modernizing the building.
 
"Park Tower is at the intersection of 'Main and Main' in downtown Tampa," says Larry Feldman, CEO of Feldman Equities. "The opportunity to bring this building from the 1970s to the 2020s was too good to pass up."
 
The three new owners also manage other local properties. City Center in downtown St. Petersburg is a joint venture with City Office REIT and Tower Realty Partners. Feldman Equities and Tower Realty Partners are JV partners on Wells Fargo Center in downtown Tampa, as well as the Morgan Stanley Tower and First Central Tower in downtown St Pete.
 
Park Tower also offers views of the downtown Tampa skyline, which could be changing in the next few years. Last month, Tampa's Hillsborough River Realty Company applied for a mixed-use development rezoning from the City of Tampa for Lafayette Place, three high rises totaling 1.7 million gross square feet on the west side of Hillsborough River just a block east of the University of Tampa.