St. John Properties Inc. Enters Florida Market

TAMPA, FL — Baltimore-based St. John Properties Inc., a full-service commercial real estate development and management company with a national portfolio valued at more than $5 billion, has entered the Florida market with a new regional office in Tampa.

This move represents the continuation of the firm’s expansion into high-growth markets around the country, and follows the 2022 openings of new regional offices in Austin, Texas, and Raleigh, North Carolina.

Founded in 1971 by Edward St. John, who serves as chairman, the company has developed and manages more than 23 million square feet of commercial space and is now active in 11 states.

St. John Properties is immediately pursuing land acquisition opportunities to fulfill its speculative development strategy throughout Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco and Polk counties.

Earlier this year, the company announced its intentions to speculatively develop 26 buildings, totaling more than one million square feet of commercial space across its national portfolio in 2023. This follows the 2022 delivery of 18 buildings comprising more than 620,000 square feet of speculative commercial space and the acquisition of three commercial portfolios totaling 225,000 square feet.

Michael Sacks, who earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Florida, will lead day-to-day operations of the new Tampa office as regional partner, with responsibilities including site and property acquisition, development, construction, marketing and leasing, and property management. Sacks recently relocated to Tampa from the company’s corporate headquarters in Baltimore where he has worked since 2019.

“We were attracted to Tampa by the region’s welcoming business environment, continued growth, highly educated workforce and availability of land,” said Lawrence Maykrantz, president and CEO of St. John Properties.

“We expect the noticeable business and population migration to the Southeast section of the country to persist, and envision tremendous opportunities, particularly along the Interstate 4 corridor connecting Tampa and Orlando. Our team is engaged in the search and analysis of suitable land acquisition opportunities to host our signature flex research and development, single-story office, mid-rise office, and retail buildings," he said.

Throughout its more than five-decade history, St. John Properties has proactively developed real estate products on a speculative basis, a practice that differentiates the company from its peers. This philosophy enables the company to respond instantly to emerging requirements of new and existing clients. St. John Properties has speculatively broken ground on approximately one million square feet of space nationwide in four of the last five years.

Since initiating its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) strategy in 2009, St. John Properties has earned certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for more than 100 buildings in its national portfolio.

The company remains a leader in sustainable building innovation, with a mission to further refine processes that improve indoor air quality while boosting employee wellness and productivity.

“St. John Properties considers the conservation of energy and natural resources, along with the ongoing need to develop and innovate environmentally-friendly buildings, to be priorities in attracting new tenants,” said Maykrantz. The USGBC ranks St. John Properties among the top five developers of LEED-certified buildings nationwide.

Sacks is leading the effort to identify and acquire strategic sites throughout the greater Tampa area to develop ground-up Class A commercial office, retail, warehouse/logistics and flex/R&D space.

Flex/R&D buildings became a signature of Edward St. John in the early 1970s in response to the real estate needs of a wide range of end-users. It consists of a “part office/part light industrial” single-story building separated into bays which can be fully customized to meet end-users’ specific needs.

St. John Properties’ flex/R&D product is home to a broad array of end users, from high-tech companies with majority office need to light manufacturing and distribution centers.

“We are eager to establish and develop relationships with local business leaders and commercial real estate professionals, and introduce our unique business and operational model to Florida,” said Sacks.

“The post-pandemic economy has spurred the development of thousands of acres of residential communities and large-scale warehouse product to serve the expanding e-commerce sector, but there has been a corresponding lag in the construction of flex/R&D product, which remains our specialty," he said.

"Given our average tenant size is 6,000 square feet along with our focus on serving small businesses, we intend to fill that gap and seize emerging opportunities. Our ongoing conversations and market research have cemented our confidence in the future of the Tampa economy. St. John Properties is a long-term holder of commercial real estate and we will work hard to make a positive and meaningful difference in Florida," said Sacks.