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Kforce has a new Tampa headquarters

The staffing and professional services company is moving from Ybor City to Midtown Tampa
 
Tampa staffing and professional services company Kforce is moving to Midtown Tampa after it announced it had agreed to sell its Ybor City headquarters, pictured in the background,. [Times (2011)]
Tampa staffing and professional services company Kforce is moving to Midtown Tampa after it announced it had agreed to sell its Ybor City headquarters, pictured in the background,. [Times (2011)]
Published Sept. 29, 2021|Updated Sept. 30, 2021

Tampa staffing and professional services firm Kforce has found its next home.

The company, one of Tampa Bay’s largest, will move from its headquarters in Ybor City to a new office building in Midtown Tampa, a new $500 million multi-use development southeast of Interstate 275 and N Dale Mabry Highway.

The company will occupy the fifth floor of Midtown West, one of four office buildings in the development. At 22,232 square feet, that space is significantly smaller than the 130,000 square feet Kforce held in Ybor City, which fits with the hybrid workfoce model the company plans to embrace post-pandemic.

In a statement, Kforce president Joe Liberatore called the plan “office occasional.”

“It provides our people with maximum flexibility and choice driven by trust and supported by technology, with a remote-first approach,” he said. “Our new home in Midtown Tampa is ‘office occasional’ in real life. You may work from home Monday and Tuesday, but then Wednesday you have a team-building exercise and a client meeting.”

Related: As Kforce downsizes its HQ, hybrid work in Tampa Bay enters a new era

Libaratore highlighted Midtown’s growing mix of leisure and retail amenities, from restaurants to a new Whole Foods grocery, as a plus for Kforce employees who work there.

“It’s this seamless movement between work and life,” he said.

The company announced in April that it was selling its headquarters for $24 million and shifting most of its employees to a hybrid work model. The buyers were led by veterinary entrepreneur and Ybor real estate investor Darryl Shaw, who agreed to lease the office back to Kforce for up to 18 months.

Related: Kforce's Ybor City HQ sold to Darryl Shaw, partners for $24 million

The Kforce property at 1001 E Palm Ave. does not factor into Shaw’s announced plans for Gas Worx, a 50-acre development situated between Ybor City and downtown Tampa. But it could eventually play a role in a future Tampa Bay Rays stadium in Ybor City, which is still a possibility.

Related: How would a Rays stadium in work in the Ybor City 'Gas Worx' plan?

Kforce’s Midtown lease begins in October 2022 and runs for 10 years. Landing one of Tampa Bay’s largest public companies, with 14,000 employees and associates around the world, including 600 locally, is a coup for the development.

”We are thrilled that Kforce has chosen Midtown West as its new corporate headquarters,” Dan Woodward, the senior vice president and Tampa market leader for Midtown co-developer Highwoods Properties, said in a statement. “Kforce is a powerful addition to the area that further rounds out the diverse mix of leading national corporations, high-end retailers, and local restaurants, and we are looking forward to seeing the added momentum they will bring to Midtown.”