'Beer can building' sale price revealed: A few pints short of $100M

Rivergate Tower, the cylindrical, limestone skyscraper known colloquially as downtown Tampa’s "beer can building," has sold for $94 million, according to a deed filed April 7.

Tampa-based Ally Capital Group announced last week that it has partnered with Miami-based Banyan Street Capital to recapitalize Rivergate Tower. Banyan, which also owns Tampa City Center and the Bank of America Plaza in downtown Tampa, has owned Rivergate Tower since 2015, according to county property records. 

Christian Lee of CBRE Group Inc. represented Banyan Street Capital in the transaction — the first joint venture between Banyan and Ally Capital Group. 

The downtown Tampa highrise at 400 N. Ashley Drive was purchased April 2 for $94 million, according to the deed. Hillsborough County property records show it was last sold to Banyan in August 2015 for $70 million. 

Built in 1988 and standing 454-feet tall, the Rivergate Tower is one of the tallest limestone structures in the world, a release says. The two private investment groups say in a release they plan to make roughly $8 million in upgrades to the cylindrical, 31-story tower overlooking the Hillsborough River. 

Planned investments include improving Rivergate Tower’s connectivity to Tampa’s Riverwalk and Kiley Gardens, as well as investing in move-in ready office suites, completing corridor and restroom upgrades and making additional improvements to the parking garage.

Founded in 2012, Banyan Street owns, develops and operates a portfolio of roughly 11.5 million square feet of office space and 5,500 apartment units.