Commercial brokers seek sky-high offers

Two of the more notable downtown office towers on the Gulf Coast remain without a name on top.

But commercial real estate brokers connected to both properties, the Ellis Building on Main Street in Sarasota and One Progress Plaza on Central Avenue in St. Petersburg, haven't given up hope. Both towers previously had naming rights lease agreements with Bank of America. Those separate deals ended last year, and several potential new lease arrangements, for both buildings, haven't come together.

St. Petersburg-based Gulf Coast Commercial took over the leasing assignment for One Progress Plaza in March. There has been a good deal of buzz, Gulf Coast Commercial President Scott Dobbins says, but nothing definitive for contracts, at least on the naming rights. Dobbins says companies that have shown interest in the naming rights and top floors include financial firms, media firms and law firms in the greater Tampa Bay area. He declines to disclose specific companies with whom he's spoken.