Benderson to renovate, reintroduce downtown Tampa tower

The building Tampa Electric Co. called home in downtown Tampa for more than 40 years is getting a new name and a new look.

East Manatee County-based Benderson Development says the building is set to undergo an extensive façade renovation and other upgrades. And the nine-story, 300,000-square-foot building, across from the historic Tampa Theatre, will be renamed 702 North Franklin Street.

Benderson did not disclose project details or a timeline. And in an email, a spokesperson says the company is finalizing redevelopment plans so it  can’t share any cost details at this time.

The building has been completely empty since TECO moved out of the space late last summer for new office digs in a just-built 17-story tower at the 23-acre Midtown Tampa development off of Interstate 75 and Dale Mabry Highway. It took 11 floors of the building.

The company’s headquarters were about a mile south at the corner of Dale Mabry and Kennedy Boulevard for 25 years before it moved to the downtown location in 1981.

Benderson, which bought 704 North Franklin Street for $22 million in 2013, says the building features 20,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space along with eight floors of office space compromising 30,000 square feet each.

It has hired CBRE to handle the office leasing and says in a statement the building’s “flexible infrastructure accommodates a range of users, from single-tenant headquarters to multi-tenant configurations, and offers prominent signage opportunities to enhance visibility.”

Benderson will lease the ground floor retail space.

The developer was founded in 1949 and has a portfolio that includes more than 1,000 properties in 40 states totaling more than 55 million square feet.

Jimmy Garvey will be the lead broker for CBRE.