Royal Bank of Canada Signs $1M Lease

RBC Centura Bank is the personal and commercial banking operation in the US for its Toronto-based parent, the Royal Bank of Canada, the largest bank in that country. RBC is moving from 3,500 sf of Downtown leased space at Wachovia Center, 100 S. Ashley St., where the firm operated from for six months "to review the market," Mark Stratman, senior vice president and managing principal of Staubach's Orlando Corporate Services Division, tells GlobeSt.com.

The bank "wanted its entrance into the Tampa market to be highly visible and to portray the image of the bank," Stratman says. RBC will be utilizing most of its new space as a commercial banking operations center but part of the space will be designated for retail branch services. The lease brings the 287,000-sf Corporate Center Three to 55.2% occupancy.

Stratman negotiated for the tenant. Sharon Bragg of Charlotte, NC-based Crescent Resources LLC represented her company which developed and owns the six-month-old building. The average asking base rent is $25.75 per sf.

The Staubach broker says Tampa Bay's class office market "consistently leads the Tampa market in total absorption, although the class B market has the largest inventory." He says class C space "has experienced negative absorption for the past several years."

Steven Ekovich, Florida regional manager of Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Brokerage Co. who oversees the Tampa and Orlando markets for his firm, calls RBC Centura Bank "a niche mid-level bank that targets business customers." Ekovich says RBC has recently merged with other financial operations in Florida and is "expanding into new locations as it grows in the market."