Foreign investment in Tampa surges

Foreign investment in commercial real estate in Florida cities such as Miami and Tampa has risen to its highest level in a decade, fueled by investor desire to find “safe havens” for capital.

A new study by commercial services firm CBRE Inc. found that Florida last year ranked fourth nationwide in so-called “cross-border capital” and the state improved to third across the country in the initial three months of this year.

In all, foreign investors plunged $4.3 billion into Sunshine State commercial real estate in 2015, an 85% increase from the year before, CBRE's report notes. Of that 2015 total, the Tampa market received $540 million, the highest level since 2007.