Highwoods JV Secures $56M for Tampa Tower
The office building is part of a $1 billion mixed-use district.
Highwoods Properties and The Bromley Cos. have secured a $55.7 million loan for the 143,354 square feet of office and retail space they own at Midtown East, a mid-rise in Tampa, Fla. Valley Bank issued the note in a transaction arranged by JLL.
Midtown East is a 432,000-square-foot property within the $1 billion Midtown Tampa district developed by the partnership. The 22-acre, mixed-use campus features 650,000 square feet of office space across three buildings, 200,000 square feet of retail space, roughly 700 multifamily units and a hotel. Since its delivery, the complex has become the one of the region’s largest live-work-play destinations.
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Midtown East rises 18 stories at 3600 Midtown Drive, close to Interstate 275 and downtown Tampa. The city’s international airport is 3 miles away.
The developers completed it in 2025 as the final office tower of the larger campus. In 2024, when the partnership topped it out, the property was the tallest office building in Tampa’s Westshore submarket.
The mid-rise features floor-to-ceiling windows, covered balconies, 26,000-square-foot floorplates, passenger elevators and ground-level retail space. The property targets multiple building certifications including LEED, Energy Star and Fitwel.
As for amenities, the building provides access to Midtown Tampa’s offerings, such as wellness classes, on-site dining, farmers markets and outdoor events. The district’s dedicated parking area, including 4,500 spots and 90 EV charging stations, is also available to Midtown East tenants.
Highwoods and Bromley own floors 10 through 15 and the retail space of the mid-rise. The duo achieved 100 percent occupancy across their entire office footprint in less than a year. Peoples Gas and Tampa Electric Co. acquired 11 floors at the property, totaling 298,000 square feet.
JLL Senior Managing Directors Ed Coco, Evan Pariser and Lee Weaver, together with Managing Director Matt Casey, negotiated on behalf of the joint venture.
Tampa’s strong office fundamentals
Tampa’s office sector ended the first half of 2026 on a high note, according to a recent Yardi Matrix office report. The metro’s vacancy stood at 14.3 percent as of June—the third-lowest rate among the top 25 U.S. office markets, after Miami’s 13.2 percent and Manhattan’s 13.1 percent. The index witnessed a 190-basis-point recovery over the year, placing the metro eighth in the country for notable vacancy improvements.
Tampa’s average rents stood at $30.10 per square foot in June, below the $33.67 per square foot national value. Development activity remains limited, mirroring ongoing office real estate trends.
One of the metro’s planned projects is the redevelopment of the Historic Gas Plant District in St. Petersburg, Fla. In July, the city selected the $8.1 billion revamp proposal presented by Blake Investment Partners and Related Group. Plans call for a mixed-use project—expected to include office, residential, hotel and retail space—that would be developed over the next 15 to 20 years.
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