Local Beer Distributor Buys 96-Acre Tract in St. Petersburg

In one of the largest land sales in the Tampa Bay area in recent years, Great Bay Distributors Inc.—one of Florida’s largest distributors of Anheuser-Busch products—has purchased a 96-acre tract in north St. Petersburg for $9.8 million. The company plans to build a distribution facility and warehouse on the site at some point in the future.

Currently based in both Largo, at 2310 Starkey Road, and Holiday, at 3221 Grand Blvd., Great Bay Distributors plans on moving one of those locations to the facility that will be built on the newly acquired land.

The tract, located just off I-275 in the Gateway area, is convenient to the entire Tampa Bay area, bordered on the north by Valpak and to the south by a site owned by Jabil Circuit, with 30 acres of the property covered by ponds. The 96-acre parcel, once touted for mixed-use development, was even considered as a possible location for a Tampa Bay Rays baseball stadium.

John Dunphy, then with Colliers International Tampa Bay, represented Great Bay in the transaction, while Jarib Rodriguez and John Jenkins of CBRE Group Inc. represented the seller, BB&T Bank. The property was first listed by CBRE for $12 million on behalf of seller BB&T Bank, which acquired the property through foreclosure in early 2011.