Interview: John Carey

John Carey

Executive Vice President VanTrust Real Estate

How did VanTrust become involved in the SkyCenter One office building project?

VanTrust opened it’s Florida office in Jacksonville in 2016. Our company intended to pursue projects in the Tampa area and when we became aware that the airport authority was putting out a request for quotation (RFQ) to build SkyCenter One, it was the perfect opportunity. VanTrust is a private real estate developer with access to significant capital. Therefore, financial capability to execute was not a question. Ultimately, VanTrust was awarded the opportunity with building completion in June of 2021 and will act as one of VanTrust’s regional offices.

What makes SkyCenter One such a unique tenant experience is that it provides direct access, by SkyConnect, to the airport. For SkyCenter One employees or guests, they will cross the skybridge, check their luggage and then hop on the SkyConnect to take them directly to the airport terminal. The idea is to help with the traffic flow at the airport drop-off.

The SkyCenter One building will stand nine stories tall with over 270,000 square feet of class-A office space. One of the unique things about this building is the upsized amenities such as the innovative fitness center with a wellness walking trail, the conference center, an onsite café with direct access to healthy meals and a 15,000-square-foot Atrium rooftop area.

How do you see the Tampa Bay office segment developing post-pandemic?

There has been a lot of discussion about how COVID is going to affect office space. Companies across the country are in an evaluation mode where they’re trying to figure out what they need coming out of this. Our personal view is that the suburban office market in Florida will become successful. This region will continue to see more companies move out of the Northeast into suburban markets that have a lower cost of real estate, labor and tax. For the same reasons that Tampa has been a great suburban office market for the last 20 years, it will keep on going.

According to the Tampa Bay Economic Development Corporation, Hillsborough County is on track for 8.7% growth through 2024.

( ) Landscape Despite the prevalent uncertainty triggered by COVID-19, Tampa’s commercial real estate segment has maintained its strong market fundamentals since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020. Long-standing efforts to diversify the local economic base coupled with no income tax and the high quality of life the market provides fueled key economic development wins in a year marred by the pandemic. A testament to Tampa Bay’s appeal for business relocations and expansion can be seen in the number of companies that moved into the market in the last year.

From healthcare giants to maritime staples, the Tampa Bay market grabbed its fair share of economic development headlines throughout the pandemic. Headquartered in New York, Pfizer announced this April plans to grow its professional services office in the Tampa Bay market. Via the consolidation of its finance, human resources and digital support functions, the big pharma giant is slated to need over 100,000 square feet of office space and create hundreds of jobs, the company

announced. Similarly, this February Suzuki Motors of America Inc. selected Tampa as the headquarters for its new watercraft company, Suzuki Marine USA LLC. The Japanese company lauded Tampa Bay’s collaborative business climate, high quality of life and strategic location as keys for its expansion into the market. These are two major wins during 1Q21. For 2020, Tampa saw approximately $595 million in capital investments, accounting for more than 2,600 new jobs in the market, according to the Tampa Bay EDC’s 2020 year recap. More than 20 new projects materialized in the face of the global pandemic, the EDC reported.

Of note, the state of Florida experienced a 14.6% population growth over the last decade and has an estimated population of more than 21 million as of April 2020, according to initial 2020 Census data, the Tampa Bay Times reported. The city of Tampa saw a population growth of 1.7% last year and is expected to grow 3.3% annually, Roofstock reported. Similarly, population growth for the Tampa Bay MSA is projected at 25% with more than 3.8 million people living in the market by 2040, according to Roofstock. The solid ongoing and projected population growth coupled with a strong, diverse economic tax base that is not over-reliant on the tourism and hospitality sectors bode well for the local residential, commercial and industrial markets as Tampa Bay rivals sister markets such as Miami and Jacksonville as the top growing cities in the Sunshine State.

Chris Moench

Founder & CEO – Directed Capital

It’s our contention that we’ll start to see more pressure for businesses across the commercial spectrum as government intervention lessens and subsidies run out. One thing we do know is the government can’t fill in all the potholes every business and every person has. They can’t cover every negative loss situation that has or will occur. It probably won’t be as large as the 2008 cycle but that remains to be seen because we don’t quite know the rate of the market recovery or the long-term efficacy of the current vaccines. It will take some time before we know how many problems exist and determine the real magnitude of the issues. We do believe these market conditions will create a significant, outsized opportunity for our business model to step in and provide solutions to distressed commercial mortgage borrowers around the country.

Patrick Richard

CEO – Stoneweg

We will continue to look for more properties in the St. Petersburg and Tampa Bay area. But prices in the region are high and we need to find a balance to be able to charge affordable rent to our tenants. We’re looking for deals that make sense for residents, investors, the community and, of course, ourselves. We’ve started to do some ground-up development and we’re looking at a few properties to provide workforce housing. We want to build sustainable and durable projects that allow us to offer affordable rent. We hope to acquire a site early next year to start developing it from the ground up.

Residential Hyper-low inventory numbers, bidding wars and onthe-spot offers, sight-unseen purchases, homes that sell within hours after listing, all coupled with the influx of new residents fleeing high tax states characterize the dynamic state of Tampa Bay’s housing market. The current sellers’ market, driven by ambitious buyers seeking the Tampa Bay sun and employment opportunities, creates both challenges and opportunities for buyers, sellers, as well as developers, investors and homebuilders.

For sellers, 2021 is expected to be a repeat of 2020, a year characterized by home price growth, as well as sales growth. This year, the Tampa Bay market is expected to see a 7.5% price growth, outpacing major major metros such as Miami, Orlando and Jacksonville, as well as national projections, according to Realtors. com’s 2021 Housing Market Forecast and Predictions.

The median price for a home in the Tampa Bay market is approximately $315,000 and sells on average nine days after being listed, according to online real estate brokerage Redfin. The rise in median sales prices is consistent throughout the Tampa Bay MSA. The median sales price for a single-family home in Pinellas County sits at $330,00, up 18% year over year, according to WTSP citing data from the Florida REALTORS® Association. Pasco County is seeing a $275,000 median sales price while Hillsborough has a $300,000 median sales price, the news outlet reported. The local housing market frenzy is best exemplified by the rising percentage of above list price transactions. As of April 2021, Redfin reported 37.7% of homes sold above list price, a 109.9% year-over-year change.