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A landmark downtown Sarasota building could be on the cusp of getting a new corporate name atop it.
Bank of America had naming rights for the 13-story structure, the Ellis Building, from 2005 until late last year. The bank, though, didn't renew its lease at the end of 2012. It downsized instead, from 27,000 square feet on the ground floor of the Ellis Building, at 1605 Main St., to a 5,000-square-foot branch a few blocks away.
That left an empty space on top of the building. But Larry Fineberg, an executive with Manatee County-based Benderson Development, the building's landlord, says he's close to signing a naming rights deal with one of two separate companies. Fineberg declines to name names of potential tenants, or even industries, citing confidentially agreements.
Fineberg adds that he balances a sense of urgency to lease the naming space and replace the ground floor tenant with a commitment to lease to the best occupant, not any occupant. “The two best parts are empty right now, the ground floor and the top,” Fineberg tells Coffee Talk. “(But) we are not the type of company that will lease it to the first people who come in. We want to get the right tenant for the building.”
Benderson, which is also behind the $315 million University Town Center mall project in north Sarasota County, has spent more than $1 million on Ellis Building upgrades and renovations. Fineberg says that includes a new lobby, new entrances and new landscaping. Several floors have been renovated, too.
“We've made a major commitment there,” says Fineberg. “It's a signature-type property.”
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