Westshore Development News

[smiley]

They now have a non-tower crane on site too.

Damn. I thought they were going to build it like the Pyramids. . . .

(just joking)

[FloridaFuture]

This is a Longer article with info on the West View project, it was in the August 3rd print addition but today the biz journal released the whole article online to the public.
-----------------


Westshore project a sign that waterfront demand is hot
Tampa Bay Business Journal - August 3, 2007by Carl CronanReal estate editor


Plans for the three-building West View Corporate Center include a cascading fountain and a courtyard with a view of Tampa Bay.


A developer's plan to add three office buildings along the Tampa Bay shoreline affirms the continued leasing power of premium corporate space with unfettered water views.

Rubenstein Partners LP says it will build a 580,000-square-foot Class A office project called West View Corporate Center on the current site of Executive Square Office Park at the far end of Reo Street, just north of Interstate 275. It is working with Tampa developer and land use attorney Kirk Eicholtz on the project.


Rubenstein, a privately held real estate investment trust based in Philadelphia, bought the nine-acre site and five existing buildings from Clear Channel Communications Inc. (NYSE: CCU) for $8 million in late October. Rubenstein quietly designed a campus with one eight-story building and two others with five stories, all surrounding a fountain and massive bayside courtyard.

The latest deal is a sign that waterfront office space in the Westshore business district is in high demand -- particularly on Rocky Point where space goes for between $27 and $31 a square foot lately and doesn't stay vacant too long, brokers say.

Spectacular water views are one of the best perks office brokers in the Bay area can pitch to prospective tenants. Buildings closest to the shore command higher annual rents than those farther inland.

"We're always going to achieve high occupancy, and we're doing very well right now," said Vince La Mariana, director with GVA Advantis in Tampa and leasing agent for Bayport Plaza, the 11-story office building next to the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay along Courtney Campbell Causeway.

Several other buildings that rose on Rocky Point since the early 1980s have consistently performed well in terms of stable rent rosters and record prices paid by investors. That's despite current long-term road construction between the causeway, officially State Road 60, and I-275 that had been thought early on to have an adverse effect on leasing there.

Office rentals throughout Westshore, and the entire Bay area for that matter, have boosted developers' confidence in adding new buildings such as Highwoods Bay Center, also along the shoreline at one end of the I-275 Howard Frankland Bridge. Construction of the second seven-story building there will start once the first reaches sufficient occupancy after opening this summer.

Developer scores a prime location
Rubenstein, which had long sought development opportunities in the Bay area, found the waterfront site by way of CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. (NYSE: CBG) even though Executive Square wasn't actively marketed.

"It was a great find," said Michael O'Callaghan, VP and marketing director for Rubenstein. "We wanted to do something dramatic and fully utilize the potential of the site."

Rather than waiting to sign prelease agreements, Rubenstein intends to proceed with construction as soon as possible after demolition of the current 30-year-old structures. It is holding firm to a planned occupancy target in spring 2009, O'Callaghan said.

West View adds to an already heavy slate of as much as 3 million square feet of office construction planned for Westshore over the next several years. Brokers believe one-third to one-half of that space will eventually be completed, with the earliest projects having the best chance of winning key tenants.


"Westshore is in need of more office space," La Mariana said, noting that his 265,015-square-foot Bayport Plaza building is now 94 percent leased.

Rubenstein, which established its REIT nearly two years ago, has a lengthy history of developing signature office projects throughout the eastern United States, totaling 3.5 million square feet, O'Callaghan said. The developer isn't too concerned about the prospect of wind exposure to an office project so close to the shoreline, since damage from hurricanes and other severe storms is mostly caused by objects from land instead of water, he added.

West View's site is several feet above the 100-year base flood elevation and will be built under strict state and federal building codes, he said.

Despite any concerns office tenants may express about issues such as hurricane evacuation zones, O'Callaghan said Rubenstein is confident the project will be successful. Its asking rents are also expected to be in line with comparable space in Westshore and Rocky Point, he said.

"We're comfortable with where the market is going," he said. "A water view is a great thing."

By the numbers
Rocky Point's largest office buildings

Name Square Feet Stories Year Opened

Bayport Plaza 265,015 11 1984

The Pointe 250,000 10 1982

Island Center 247,985 12 1986


Waterford Plaza 243,257 12 1987

Harborview Plaza 205,290 7 2002

Rocky Point Centre 180,960 8 1985

SOURCE: Tampa Bay Business Journal research

ccronan@bizjournals.com | 813.342.2468

http://tampabay.bizjournals.com/tamp...372800^1500265

[Robert.Maddrey]

The more and more I read about this project the more interesting and ambitious the design and proposal seem. Certainly, not your standard Westshore fare.

[HARTride 2012]

Originally Posted by Robert.Maddrey

The more and more I read about this project the more interesting and ambitious the design and proposal seem. Certainly, not your standard Westshore fare.

Nope. Very post-modern looking to me.

[jonknee]

But there are still palm trees so it's "Florida" .

[smiley]

Am I looking at another picture? You guys are looking at this, right?



It is a frigging U-shaped box with a little gras in the middle. It is neither modern nor post-modern. IT is damn office park box. I could have designed that in 3d grade.

[FloridaFuture]

^Agreed Smiley. I don't know the site well, but from the looks of it the views aren't as great as they (the salesmen probably) are hyping. It seems the majority of the views either look at another building, courtyard, or if you happen to be in the taller building you look at the roofs of the shorter slab buildings with maybe some water out there somewhere.

[jonknee]

Well that view is looking East and the water view is West. It's not that bad, the aerial shot they have posted shows a lot of water. Here's a bigger version of the West facing rendering.

I'm not so sure people will meet in the quad during their lunch break and sun bathe in business wear, but otherwise it seems like it will be popular.

[Quegiebo]

One cannot help but be impressed with all the shade.

Overall, it's not too bad.

[FloridaFuture]

^It's not horrible because after all, it is just fill in a rather isolated location. IMO But at the same time its being overhyped.

[FloridaFuture]

Zoning Approved For MetLife's West Shore Development
By DAVE SIMANOFF, The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 10, 2007

TAMPA - MetLife, the insurance giant and major local employer that's looking to redevelop 30 acres of property in the West Shore business district, has cleared its first hurdle in city hall.

On Thursday morning, the Tampa City Council approved the company's request to rezone the site on Boy Scout Boulevard to allow three 10-story office buildings, a retail center, apartments and a hotel.

The new development will be called MetWest International and will cost $200 million to build, MetLife officials said. To make room for the new buildings, MetLife plans to raze a two-story office complex on the site. That building is vacant; the employees were moved out months ago to MetLife's newly acquired offices in Highwoods Preserve in New Tampa.

Another office building on the property, the 11-story One Metrocenter tower, will be integrated into MetWest International.

MetLife spokesman Chris Breslin said the company plans to begin demolition within several months. The hotel, apartments, retail center and first office building should be ready by the late summer or fall of 2009, he said. The other two office buildings would be constructed later, in response to commercial real estate market demands, he said.

Three of seven city council members voted against rezoning the property: Linda Saul-Sena, Mary Mulhern and John Dingfelder. They expressed concerns about the amount of traffic MetWest International might generate. Saul-Sena and Mulhern also said they were upset that some architectural drawings were not submitted until Thursday morning, and that the designs did not meet their expectations.

'It could be greener, it could be more pedestrian-friendly,' Saul-Sena said. 'It's a B. It could be an A.'

MetWest International will become part of MetLife's $40 billion real estate portfolio. Breslin said the development represents his company's commitment to investing in Tampa. 'We're very pleased with the council's decision,' he said.

Reporter Dave Simanoff can be reached at dsimanoff@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7762.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2007/aug...op/?news-money

[Robert.Maddrey]

Originally Posted by Quegiebo

One cannot help but be impressed with all the shade.

Overall, it's not too bad.

The landscaping is definitely suspect, but as some one that works in Westshore its actually pretty impressive in terms of what it offers aesthetically. Most buildings are just that, with little or no regard to usability or versatility of the property. This at least offers a common area over looking the water, as opposed to a fountain in a drainage pond. <--- I work in the Metlife tower.

[FloridaFuture]

Here is a picture of Avion Park under construction on the front page of tampatrib.com:

[HARTride 2012]

That looks cool. Definitely moving along well.

[FloridaFuture]

Avion Park update:

Office tower up to floor 7. Also, what appeared to be one of the hotels (lots of wood, so I don't think it was an office building) is up to the 4th floor.

Also, Corprorate Center 4 has lots of equipment and activity on site. Looks as though it will be going vertical soon.

[multifamilyinvestor]

You know - with proposals filling in along the Interstate at Westshore, proposals for Dale Mabry and West Tampa - Tampa is beginning to look very urban INSIDE the city limits. (Add Hyde Park, Ybor, Bayshore, UT, SoHo). There are a lot of urban walkable areas in Tampa. We just need more sidewalks in Westshore.

I see a nice dense Mass Transit route shaping up between Westshore and Ybor City

Now the County is another story.

[FloridaFuture]

^There are definitley lots of nice neighborhoods (there's some bad ones too) in Tampa with lot of potential. It just needs to all be connected better, and Tampa will be a great city.

[HARTride 2012]

Originally Posted by multifamilyinvestor

You know - with proposals filling in along the Interstate at Westshore, proposals for Dale Mabry and West Tampa - Tampa is beginning to look very urban INSIDE the city limits. (Add Hyde Park, Ybor, Bayshore, UT, SoHo). There are a lot of urban walkable areas in Tampa. We just need more sidewalks in Westhore.

I see a nice dense Mass Transit route shaping up between Westshore and Ybor City

Now the County is another story.

If only HART and TBARTA (or whatever it's called) can conjure up a BRT line along Kennedy...

The current Routes 15 and 30 are okay, but I see a lot more potential for them...

[TampaMike]

Originally Posted by wslupecki

If only HART and TBARTA (or whatever it's called) can conjure up a BRT line along Kennedy...

The current Routes 15 and 30 are okay, but I see a lot more potential for them...

Up Kennedy is too much of a hassle. I-275 would be a smarter thing to do, because they are already re-doing the highway and can be a station for the 2 routes. One going up the Suncoast way and another crossing the Bay w/ Howard.

[smiley]

BRT is the pipedream of those lacking the balls to build a train