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Ending months of speculation over the fate of Osprey S.A. Ltd.'s portfolio of more than a dozen office buildings in Sarasota, St. Petersburg and Tampa, the Michigan-based firm has awarded listings to commercial real estate brokerage Colliers International Tampa Bay.
In conjunction with the assignment, Osprey Director of Leasing Lori Hellstrom and assistant Fabienne Porter have joined Colliers International, as director - office services and client services specialist, respectively.
The 14 Osprey properties, which total 1.3 million square feet, include the 13-story Sarasota City Center in downtown Sarasota and the Castille at Carillon offices in the Carillon Business Park, in St. Petersburg.
Combined, the portfolio has an average occupancy of more than 80%, though many of the properties — including Sarasota City Center at 8% and Westlake Corporate Center I & II, in Tampa, at 10% — carry higher occupancy levels.
But for Colliers, the listings will mean more than just high-level leasing opportunities.
“This provides us a better footprint to grow from,” says Ryan Kratz, president of Colliers International Tampa Bay, Central and Southwest Florida.
Eight of the 14 properties — including the Live Oak Business Center, Cattleridge Corporate Center and Osprey Commerce Center — are in Sarasota or Sarasota County, an area Colliers has had only a slight presence in previously.
Last year, Colliers made inroads into Sarasota when it absorbed commercial brokerage Pointe Group Advisors, which leases the four-building Gateway Professional Centre and the Northern Trust Building downtown.
Hellstrom, who will be based in Sarasota, says Colliers' regional presence attracted her.
“They have a great platform,” she says.
The leasing assignment is unlikely to alter separate efforts to sell many of the Osprey assets, however. Earlier this year Osprey hired brokerage firm HFF to market many of the properties here and in Charlotte, N.C.
Osprey put the properties on the market after a series of disagreements between partners.
Kratz says he hopes Colliers will be able to retain leasing at the buildings even if they are sold.
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