Tampa Channel District stores, offices sell for $38 million

The stores and offices on the ground floor of Grand Central at Kennedy sold for $38.1 million, real estate firm Colliers International said Tuesday.

The sale price is record-breaking for urban Tampa retail, Colliers said in a statement. The 115,899 square feet of shopping and dining space at the northeast corner of E Kennedy Boulevard and N Meridian Avenue is the largest retail site in downtown Tampa to be sold since Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik bought Channelside Bay Plaza — now Sparkman Wharf — in 2014.

Mosaic Realty Partners, a Maryland real estate investment firm, bought the Tampa retail property, its first in Florida. The firm has about 2.7 million square feet of property in the mid-Atlantic region worth more than $320 million.

It was previously owned by Tampa firm Mercury Advisors, who developed Grand Central at Kennedy in 2007.

The property was 100% occupied at the sale, according to Colliers. The site includes CVS, Crunch Fitness, Cena, City Dog Cantina, Pour House, Maloney’s Irish Pub and Massage Envy. Office space on the ground floor is occupied by chemical truck transportation company Quality Carriers and Kraft Heinz Foods. It also includes a renovated outdoor courtyard and 862 parking spaces split over two garages.

Tampa Bay businesses have been outpacing the nation in recovering from the pandemic with the influx of residents. There are about 1,650 apartment and condominium units near the shopping center with luxury apartments Channel Club, The Fitzgerald, The Slade and 392 condos in Grand Central at Kennedy. About 675 multifamily units are under construction within a tenth of a mile of Grand Central, Colliers said.

“The demand for pedestrian retail increases with each new resident, positioning Grand Central and all real estate investments within the Channel District for extensive growth in value,” Nicholas Coccodrilli, Colliers senior investment analysis manager, said in a statement.