The Tampa Bay chapter of NAIOP named the new MetWest One office building as its outstanding office building for 2009, while Tampa-based Taylor & Mathis of Florida LLC, development manager for the entire project, was named developer of the year. The 10-story, 249,600-square-foot MetWest One was completed last spring, at which time it signed its first large tenant, engineering firm PBSJ Corp.
Executives with MetWest International's owner, New York City-based MetLife Inc., say they are pleased with the project's progress so far, despite economic conditions that have stymied other commercial development within the Tampa Bay market. Plans call for nearly a million square feet of class A offices in four buildings, along with at least 74,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, a 260-room upscale hotel and 254 residential living units.
"We have been very well received in the marketplace," Glenn Becker, associate director of real estate investments with MetLife in Tampa, tells GlobeSt.com. He says the new office building is just over half occupied, with PBSJ moving into its 83,000-square-foot space in December.
Chuck Davis, regional director of MetLife's Tampa real estate investment office, adds that MetWest One aims to be more like an urban office building with high finishes and top-of-the-line amenities. "We want quality credit tenants in the building," Davis says, noting that its current asking rents of $31 to $32 per square foot remain competitive in Tampa's Westshore submarket.
MetWest International has been in the works over the past several years, replacing MetLife's local regional offices on the site just south of Tampa International Airport. The company, which occupied the site since the early 1970s, now has offices near Interstate 75 north of Tampa.
Future phases of development at MetWest International, part of MetLife's current $45-million real estate investment portfolio, will be dictated by market demand, Davis says. In the meantime, the project's retail segment is 30% leased and includes the local debut of Kona Grill, which opened in November.
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