First, here are three eye-catching stories you may have missed from the TBBJ newsroom this past week.
1) Inside the St. Petersburg City Council’s due diligence for the $1.3 billion ballpark
There was a marked shift in tone from the May St. Pete City Council workshop that addressed the terms of redeveloping the property surrounding a new Raysballpark.A seven-hour workshop to discuss roughly a dozen agreements regarding building the stadium allowed each council member to work through lists of questions and requests for the administration and Rays team. As Pinellas County Real Estate and Economic Development Reporter Breanne Williams posted last week, there is detail about how the $1.3 billion breaks down for the city, county, and the Rays contribution, now estimated to be more than $700 million.
2) Ohio investors snap up downtown Tampa tower popular with USF med school students
News last week of the $128 million sale of a three-year-old Tampa student housing tower provides insight into how investors are eyeing Tampa assets. As TBBJ Real Estate Editor Ashley Gurbal Kritzer posted, Ohio-based Strategic Facility Partners closed on The Henry at 100 E. Tyler St. in early June. It partnered with RBC Capital Markets to sell the bonds and had huge interest, more than 10 times the amount it needed to fund,” an executive wrote in an email.
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3) Redfin: Several Tampa Bay area housing markets are cooling faster than most
Cycles are afoot. In April, the supply of homes for sale in North Port increased 68% yearly, while the median price per square foot was down 1.2%. According to Redfin, 42.6% of sellers discounted their asking price, up from 36% last year. See more of the data in the TBBJ Digital Producer Devonta Davis report. But the post-hurricane economy is in play on both sides of the storm. Construction remains active after Hurricane Ian in September 2022, but sales have slowed since the 2024 storm season began.
Now, five more things that happened while you got excited to watch the Paris Olympics:
4) Moffitt Cancer Center is recognized for health care equity for the 11th time
The Human Rights Campaign has again named Moffitt Cancer Center an LGBTQ+ Healthcare Equality Leader. “We always say that cancer does not discriminate, and that remains true,” said Cathy Grant, vice president and chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer at Moffitt, in a release. A record 1,065 health care organizations took the survey and 384 earned the designation. Moffitt has received the designation 11 times.
5) Wellspring Gardens in Lakeland hits a 20-year milestone
Wellspring Gardens in Lakeland said it fulfilled its 500,000th online order this June. The company, which employs 12, started in a backyard in 2004 and is projecting it will fulfill 1 million orders, doubling its record, in the next five years, a release said. Donovan K. Baltich started the business after being laid off in 2003.“Since 2020, we’ve systemized our fulfillment operations and growing practices to enable fewer people to achieve more,” he said.
6) St. Petersburg residential real estate pulse: luxury sales are up
In St. Petersburg, there were 78 closed sales of over $1.5 million in May, compared to 68 sales of over $1.5 million in May 2023. For the last five months, there were 341 closed sales of over $1.5 million from Jan. 1 to May 31 in St. Pete and 274 closed sales for the same period of the prior year (an increase of approximately 25%), according to data gathered for Land O’ Lakes broker Michael P. Candito.
7) A cost-saving partnership is renewed between Tampa General Hospital and TriVent Healthcare
Tampa General Hospital has renewed its partnership for another five years with TriVent Healthcare, a Boca Raton-based provider of ventilator liberation services. TriVent said it earned “significant fiscal achievements” in collaboration with TGH, as a release said the hospital achieved more than $2 million in cost savings in the last year. The system said it achieved a ventilator liberation rate (the process of weaning critically ill patients from mechanical ventilation) of 86%.
8) Meeting alert: Omega Psi Phi is set to bring thousands to Tampa on June 27
Omega Psi Phi, a professional organization for college-educated men founded in 1911 at Howard University, will host its 84th Conclave at the Tampa Convention Center from June 27 to July 2. The event will focus on activism, philanthropic efforts, youth mentoring, recognizing the fine arts, health and wellness and celebrating decades of social action. It unites thousands of fraternity members, dignitaries, celebrities and community leaders. Its sister organization for women, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., was founded in 1913.
As we wind down, here's this week's talker:
An opportunity to see films in an intimate setting
The Tampa Theatre completed its first expansion in its 98-year history, unveiling a “microcinema” to the public. The Downtown Tampa Community Redevelopment Agency Board donated $14 million to support the theater's larger restoration project.Named the “John T. Taylor Screening Room,” the 43-seat theater was once the site of a florist shop adjacent to the Tampa Theatre’s box office. It isn’t the only microcinema operating in Tampa. Screen Door: An Ybor City Microcinema operates on the second floor of the Kress Building at 1624 E 7th Ave.
And before we go, here is this week's big number:
$300 million
Neptune Flood has added insurance underwriting capacity ahead of the 2024 hurricane season. The private market insurer said it will provide room to write more than $100 million in coverage.
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Email me: amuellner@bizjournals.com
