TAMPA, FL: "We are transforming the former Eastlake Mall into a 1,000,000 square foot corporate supercenter that will attract back office tenants, operations centers, call centers, and data processing/accounting support facilities centers," said John Wingfield, senior vice president of Divaris Real Estate, and head of DRE's Tampa office.

The former mall is undergoing a major renovation program to convert it into a "state-of-the-art" office complex with extensive amenities and support facilities. This ultimate high-tech corporate environment is specifically designed for major national customer service, telecommunications, and data processing companies. The facility will offer tenants the opportunity to lease suites of 5,000 square feet to over 300,000 square feet on a single floor, with parking immediately adjacent to their office suites.

As reported in the 1997 Commercial Real Estate Review, Divaris Real Estate, together with owner John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company and the nationally renowned architectural firm of Hellmuth, Obata, & Kassabaum (HOK) of Tampa, Florida, are transforming the former Eastlake Square Mall into netp@rk.tampabay. The property, located at the intersection of Hillsborough Avenue and US 56 in Hillsborough County, Tampa is built on two floors, with extensive parking fields surrounding the building, on both levels.

"The appeal to prospective tenants of this facility is the large floorplates that are available on each floor, the on-site amenity package that the project offers and its excellent location," said Rob Stanton, vice president of Divaris Property Management Corp., netp@rk's property manager. "Also, the technological advances that have been added to the center will be the most advanced available in the country."

With the help of HOK, the project will include the latest fiber optics communications capability, redundant power, and electrical and satellite circuitry. On-site amenities will include: a day care center for both children and senior citizens, a food court, a fitness center, and service facilities such as a convenience store, banking, and hair dressing.

"A complex of three cinema-style auditoriums will offer the opportunity of distant learning, video conferencing, lecture facilities and large public meeting space for conferences," said John Wingfield, who is handling the leasing of netp@rk.tampabay.

The climate controlled interiors and food court will provide comfort to employees during their off hours, while the exterior facilities will include a preservation area, a natural park setting around a man-made pond, and a jogging track. In addition to excellent access of the property from Tampa Bay's regional freeway network, there is an on-site bus transfer station providing employees with optimum flexibility via a regularly scheduled public transportation system from every corner of the metropolitan area, directly to the property. These amenities, together with the food court, daycare, and training center, will help employers decrease employee turnover and increase overall productivity.

"The property is situated on a 90-acre site, with an abundant parking ratio of seven bays per 1,000 square feet. An interior streetscape has been developed to create a tranquil, yet festive atmosphere. Construction is scheduled to commence in September, with the first phase ready for tenant occupancy in early spring 1999," said Henry McClure, netp@rk's leasing consultant with Divaris Real Estate's Tampa office.

"We are creating an inviting environment for tenants where their employees will become more energized," McClure explained. "netp@rk.tampabay will address the concerns of employers regarding the retention and productivity of their employees. The amenities will not only make people feel better while they are working, it will also increase their productivity," added Wingfield.

Wingfield also noted, "The alternative for a company seeking a call center or an operations/customer service center is to occupy space in a stand-alone building. Limited food service may be provided, but probably nothing else."

A facility like netp@rk.tampabay will attract a higher calibre labor pool and will retain those employees, thus reducing training costs, hiring costs, and improve productivity as workers stay and gain more experience and work more efficiently. "These motivated employees, in turn, will provide a higher level of service to their customers and improve bottom line results for their employers," Stanton said.

"We have proposals out to three major national tenants for spaces ranging from 40,000 square feet to 100,000 square feet of space. We will have the day care center, food court, landscaping, a new leasing office and the main entrance to the property completed by the time that they open for business. Also, Divaris Real Estate and John Hancock will open an administrative office, and an incubator call center, on site," according to John Wingfield.

Beth Bernitt, of HOK, the architects and space planners for netp@rk.tampabay, said "We are currently working on Divaris' leasing office, and we are working very closely with John Hancock to finalize the design of the entire redevelopment concept."

"It is a challenging construction project to do the major infrastructural upgrades that need to be done to accommodate high-tech office users. It means the replacement of mechanical systems, replacement of the complete electrical systems, replacing all of the roofs of the anchor stores. The challenge is taking a retail mall and transforming it into an office environment. We are assisting Divaris in transforming not only the whole mall physically, but also in the perception of it as a former mall that is now an operations center," Bernitt said.

"We are accommodating different sized tenants, some smaller and some larger. The amenities will allow even the smaller tenants to take advantage of the food service and specialty retailers.

"The aesthetics are suitable for a high tech, highly sophisticated office environment. The interior of the mall will be transformed into a streetscape, with the office users being able to take advantage of the two-story atrium space in the center court which will overlook the specialty food service and the specialty retail," Bernitt explained. It is anticipated that this will be a three to five year project that will include exterior as well as interior redesign.

"The exterior will have substantial landscaping surrounding the building, separating the parking from the building, a jogging trail and natural park areas in the land around the project will complement the built-up environment. The county has allowed us to utilize a large retention pond for additional trails and a gazebo for outdoor dining," she added.