Feldman Equities acquired downtown St. Petersburg’s tallest office tower and plans to invest more than $20 million into the property as investors continue favoring office buildings in walkable downtown districts across Florida.
The Tampa Bay real estate firm said Thursday that it purchased 200 Central Avenue, a 28-story, 308,000-square-foot tower that anchors downtown St. Petersburg’s business district and counts Raymond James, ARK Invest, Merrill Lynch, Dynasty Financial Partners, Trenam Law and Industrious among its tenants. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Ground-floor retail tenants include Craft Kafe, Taverna Costale and Naked Farmer.
Office transactions across the U.S. remain below pre-pandemic levels, but Florida markets have held up better than many coastal cities as population growth and stronger return-to-office trends continue supporting demand for newer buildings in walkable districts.
Feldman Equities said the joint venture, which includes The Youngquist Family and Equity Street Capital, will modernize the building’s HVAC, electrical and mechanical systems, replace elevators and upgrade life-safety infrastructure and common areas. The work will also include upgrades to the building envelope, lobby and skybridge.
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Rising more than 380 feet above Central Avenue, the tower sits near the St. Pete Pier and downtown waterfront and connects by skybridge to an adjacent parking garage.
Feldman said the firm continues seeing demand from companies seeking higher-quality office space in walkable downtown districts.
“Our continued investment in downtown St. Petersburg’s office market is a vote of confidence in this city’s future,” Mack Feldman, vice president at Feldman Equities, said in a statement. “200 Central is the address of choice for premier tenants in Tampa Bay, and we intend to build on that reputation.”
The acquisition continues Feldman Equities’ strategy of buying office properties across Tampa Bay and repositioning them through redevelopment and in-house management. The company and its partners own or manage more than 2 million square feet across Florida and have developed or acquired more than 11 million square feet of office and retail property.
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