Grow Financial Federal Credit Union leased around 50,000 square feet for its new corporate headquarters last year, finalizing a deal to be at the forefront of a new project in Tampa, Florida.
After the COVID-19 pandemic introduced the idea of a distributed workforce, Grow sought to relocate its corporate offices to a space that better suited the size and functionality needs of its team, designed with innovative spaces for team members to gather. Additionally, Grow sought out a location in a centrally located Tampa neighborhood with engaging amenities and one where its efforts to serve the underserved and underbanked populations could be enhanced.
With its new lease, Grow plans to move its headquarters from a suburban office complex to Gasworx, a mixed-use district described as a "city within a city" that is under construction between Ybor City and the Channel district. The deal has been selected as the winner of the 2024 CoStar Impact Award for lease of the year in Tampa/St. Petersburg, as judged by a local team of real estate professionals familiar with the market.
About the Project: The building, now named Grow Financial Place, is designed to include a rooftop terrace that will be available to the tenants and the general public. The landlord has the right to convert a certain portion of the rooftop terrace to a private club operated by a third party. Additionally, the adjacent Market Hall will provide a gathering place for tenants and residents and provide an active social venue for the Tampa community. Grow will occupy the entire third and fourth floors of the 115,000-square-foot, six-story office building. The space is being designed to encourage free-flowing, engaging communications with an open floor plan and numerous casual collision areas within each floor. The project is scheduled to be completed in late 2025.
What the Judges Said: "The Grow Financial lease at GasWorx helped solidify the mixed-use nature of the proposed transformative development that has the potential to further reshape how the area defines downtown Tampa and Ybor City, perhaps not unlike how Water Street has transformed the channelside area," said Owen LaFave, Pinellas County market president for the Bank of Tampa.
They Made It Happen: Doug Bartley of Commercial Advisory Services represented the tenant. Owners and developers Kettler and Darryl Shaw were self-represented.