SPP taps brokerage for Water Street tower

Don't be surprised if Strategic Property Partners, the joint venture between Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik and Bill Gates' Cascade Investment LLC, taps commercial real estate brokerage firm JLL to lease the new office tower that will be one of the centerpieces of the $3 billion project.

JLL apparently won out in a competition that included rivals CBRE and Cushman & Wakefield, among others.

Neither SPP not JLL would comment. SPP says it expects to unveil details regarding the planned tower — which could total 700,000 square feet — in the coming weeks.