By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer – Real Estate Editor, Tampa Bay Business Journal, May 14, 2024
Midtown East, the office tower that will house the new headquarters of Tampa Electric Co. and Peoples Gas, has reached its full height of 18 stories.
New York-based Bromley Cos., the master developer of Midtown Tampa, is developing Midtown East in a joint venture with Highwoods Properties, one of Tampa Bay’s largest office landlords. It is under construction on Himes Avenue and is adjacent to Midtown’s dual-flag hotel and parking structure. Midtown East landed the headquarters of TECO and Peoples Gas before it broke ground in early 2023.
The topping-out milestone comes at a challenging time in the office market, as companies adapt to less space in the wake of hybrid and remote work. Few towers are under construction anywhere in the U.S.; the developers of Water Street Tampa recently said they plan to wait for an anchor tenant to commit before breaking ground on their next office tower. But that also puts Midtown East in a unique position; it will be the only brand-new office property in Tampa to have large contiguous blocks of space available.
The utilities will occupy 292,180 square feet in the tower and own their space in a commercial condominium structure. Highwoods and Bromley own the remaining 143,000 square feet or floors 10 through 15; of that, 20,000 square feet has been leased to staffing firm Insight Global.
“It’s a really unique building, and in some ways, it embodies Midtown,” Nick Haines, Bromley CEO, told the Tampa Bay Business Journal. “The 360-degree view is really all of Tampa Bay, with downtown, Westshore and the airport, Tampa Bay to the west and to the south, and you can see the St. Pete skyline in the middle of it all.”
That centralized location, Bromley and Highwoods are betting, will draw office tenants to Midtown East. Haines said he expects a mix of local and out-of-market tenants to lease space in the tower, similar in nature to Midtown West, the first office building in Midtown.
Haines said the developers are in “advanced discussions” with several tenants. The floorplates at Midtown East are 26,000 square feet and easy to subdivide.
“Part of the value proposition of the building, or part of why we think it’s great, is that we’ll be the first in Tampa Bay to have outdoor space on every single floor,” Haines said.
