ReliaQuest growth means more fun, more opportunities for learning

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Reliaquest

• Big category winner

With 33 employees and a score of 97.29, ReliaQuest is this year’s Big Category winner in Best Places to Work.

And if you ask Scott Noonan, the professional services manager for the IT security consulting firm, a lot of what makes it a great place to work starts with hiring — what he works on for the company.

“I talk to a lot of people,” Noonan said, whether he’s interviewing or evaluating a potential employee.

Noonan has been with ReliaQuest for… …read more

CDW’s family atmosphere starts at the top

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CDW

• Bigger category

A sense of family helps maintain the Best Place to Work atmosphere at CDW, a technology services provider in Tampa.

After nabbing the top spot as Tampa Bay Business Journal’s Overall Best Places to Work winner in 2014, CDW is back on the list as the Bigger category winner.

Alex Miles, account manager, says the Best Place atmosphere begins the minute you step off the elevator – from the line of company awards and accolades, to CDW’s receptionist, Carole Snider, who… …read more

Remaining Tampa Bay Albertsons to get a facelift

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The three remaining Albertsons stores in Florida are getting a makeover.

The Idaho grocer is closing its store in Clearwater, leaving it with one store in East Largo, one in Altamonte Springs and one in Broward County. All three of those will be remodeled, Albertsons Florida Division President Sidney Hopper said in a statement.

The Albertsons store in Clearwater was the first-ever Albertsons in Florida, according to Supermarket News, an industry trade publication. Nearly 90 employees will be let… …read more

New grocer, more retail in the works for downtown St. Pete

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The site of an antiquated office building in downtown St. Petersburg will be redeveloped to include a glitzy new retail center anchored by a grocery store.

The ARC Group Inc., a St. Petersburg-based developer, filed plans with the city on April 16 to add 50,000 square feet of retail space and three levels of parking to the southwest corner of Central Avenue and Seventh Street South. The six-story office building, built in 1968 and owned by ARC, will remain on the site. (See site plan embedded below.)

The… …read more

Pending sale of Container Store-anchored retail center a potential record setter for Tampa Bay

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The pending sale of The Corner at Westshore — the retail center anchored by the Container Store — has the potential to be a record setter for Tampa Bay.

Patrick Berman, a senior director of retail brokerage at Cushman & Wakefield of Florida Inc., told the Westshore Alliance’s annual development forum Tuesday that a sale of the property was pending, though he didn’t disclose the buyer or sales price.

The property is being marketed by Marcus & Millichap brokers in Fort Lauderdale and New York.… …read more

Commercial real estate powerhouse snags fast-growing Vertical Integration

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Commercial real estate powerhouse Savills Studley has acquired one of the Tampa Bay area’s fastest-growing firms, woman-owned Vertical Integration Inc.

Ann Duncan, president and founder of Vertical Integration, and her team will join Savills Studley and Duncan will become head of the company’s occupier services, a statement said.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

A “red-hot” property investment environment, soaring company valuations and globalization have increased mergers… …read more

What companies millennials favor says a lot about the economy

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From bike rentals and couch surfing to transportation and travel, the so-called “sharing economy” will have a greater impact on the economy in the coming years, according to a new report.

“Sharing economy” industries, including travel, car sharing, hospitality, finance, staffing and music and video streaming, have the potential to increase global revenues from $15 billion today to $335 billion by 2025, according to a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The report said people between the age of… …read more

Chinese, Middle Eastern capital chasing real estate deals in Tampa Bay

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International investors are seriously looking at Tampa, adding a new source of financing that could bolster the city’s growth.

“Tampa is just very well received right now,” said Daniel Peek, senior managing director of the hospitality group with HFF LP in Tampa. “Tampa presents a great growth story right now, and it’s nice to see.”

Tampa Bay Lightning Owner Jeff Vinik’s plans to build a billion-dollar, mixed-use district on the southern fringe of downtown Tampa are creating some buzz among investors,… …read more

Howard Frankland is the traffic spot that gives TBBJ readers the biggest headache

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In a survey of more than 300 Tampa Bay Business Journal readers, Interstate 275 — specifically the Howard Frankland bridge — was found to be the most complained about traffic spot.

More people complained about driving on the bridge, specifically the Northbound exit at Kennedy Boulevard leading into the Westshore area, more than any other area in Tampa Bay.

Downtown Tampa, the Fowler area and the intersection of Gandy and Roosevelt Boulevards in St. Petersburg were some other areas along I-275… …read more

Tribune’s pending real estate deal signals confidence in downtown Tampa

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If the Tampa Tribune’s pending real estate deal comes to fruition, it will be a ringing endorsement of the potential for development deals in the urban core.

The Tribune’s riverfront site in downtown Tampa is under contract to a developer who is planning a residential project there that could possibly include commercial uses, multiple real estate sources told the Tampa Bay Business Journal on Friday. The developer pursuing the project is believed to be The Related Group, which is based in South… …read more