Synovus bank planning offices in Water Street Tampa’s new tower

Water Street Tampa’s new office tower may soon have another tenant.

Synovus, a Georgia bank with more than a dozen branches in Tampa Bay, is planning a 10,829-square-foot office suite at Thousand & One, which opened last summer.

According to a project description filed with the city of Tampa, the space in Suite 700 will be built out to include 29 offices, five conference rooms and more than a half-dozen other private workspaces, collaboration areas and break or IT rooms. The office will have two open areas for 11 workstations. There is no indication it will be an actual branch of the bank.

A Synovus spokesperson declined to comment Friday. Water Street developers Strategic Property Partners did not immediately respond to requests for comment late Friday afternoon.

Synovus would join a handful of companies that have moved or will move into Thousand & One, the commercial centerpiece of the $3.5 billion development led by Lightning owner Jeff Vinik and Bill Gates’ Cascade Investment. The biggest is Tampa cybersecurity company ReliaQuest, which plans to relocate its headquarters there later this year.

Synovus has for years eyed Florida, and specifically Tampa, as a growth market. In 2019 the company acquired Florida Community Bank, the state’s largest network of community banks, for $2.9 billion, giving it 50 new new branches across the state.

Synovus has three Tampa branches, the closest of which to downtown is on W Neptune Street near Henderson Boulevard in South Tampa. Last month the company named a new Tampa Bay market president, John Acosta, who had previously worked for Cadence Bank and Regions.

“He is deeply committed to the financial and economic health of the Tampa Bay region, and we look forward to leveraging his expertise as we work to enable our customers and communities to reach their full potential,” Synovus’ Central and South Florida division CEO Sean Simpson said in a statement.

If Synovus decides to open a new branch to go along with its Thousand & One office, it’ll have a growing potential customer base nearby. Water Street Tampa last week began move-ins for Asher, the third of three residential towers to open during its first phase of development.