Peter Schorsch
Private equity firm Directed Capital announced this week that it’s moving its headquarters to Morgan Stanley Tower in downtown St. Petersburg.
The company is leasing a full floor — 13,460 square feet — in the 17-story, 190,000-square-foot office tower on Second Avenue. The company will make the short move from its Third Avenue offices in the summer.
The move marks a major expansion for the company, which specializes in acquiring commercial mortgage debt.
“While the company’s business strategy has always anticipated expansion of staff as our assets under management grow, our recent acquisition of a large FDIC loan portfolio accelerated the need for more office space to accommodate the growth and added employees,” said company CEO Christopher Moench.
“Our new office space in the Class A Morgan Stanley Tower not only meets our growth needs, but will aid in our recruitment and retention of staff. We will remain active in support of our community and look forward to many years of continued success in our new headquarters.”
Directed Capital signed a 10-year least for its new digs. The space opened up after The Edwards Group, owned by Tampa Bay Rowdies owner Bill Edwards, announced that it would relocate to a Central Avenue building owned by Edwards.
Morgan Stanley Tower, formerly known as Wells Fargo Plaza, was acquired by Feldman Equities and Orlando-based Tower Realty Partners a few years ago. Since then, the property underwent a multi-million dollar facelift that saw it add a host of modern amenities.
The partnership also acquired and renovated the nearby City Center office building and First Central Tower on Central Avenue and Fourth Street.
Feldman Equities executive vice president Mike DiBlasi, who handles leasing and marketing at Morgan Stanley Tower, said the deal inked with Directed Capital will keep the building at 100 percent occupancy. The building was at 65 percent occupancy when the partnership acquired the property.
“Those waterfront views sell themselves,” he said. “The St Petersburg office market is robust. Our three St Pete office buildings are now over 99% occupied.”
