27 July 2015

Commercial Development Company, Inc. Acquires Large Industrial Site in St. Petersburg, FL from Raytheon Company, Plans Redevelopment

St. Louis, MO – Commercial Development Company Inc. (CDC), a leading North American commercial real estate development company, today announced the acquisition of a 29-acre site in St. Petersburg, FL from Raytheon Company. The former manufacturing site will now be redeveloped by CDC.

Built in the 1950s, this 500,000 sq ft facility had previously been used to manufacture electronic components until being acquired by Raytheon in 1995. Historic manufacturing operations by former operators resulted in groundwater contamination at the site. Raytheon has completed substantial remediation efforts at the site, all of which have been approved by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). The efforts to date, together with continued long term ground water recovery and treatment, have made the site ready for suitable redevelopment.

“Raytheon’s aggressive remediation efforts have gone beyond those typically undertaken at legacy industrial sites,” said Tim Biggs, Senior Geologist at EnviroAnalytics Group, LLC, a corporate affiliate of CDC. “The site underwent cutting edge treatments that quickly and dramatically improved the condition of the soil and groundwater.”

To maintain environmental compliance, Raytheon will remain on site to operate a groundwater treatment and recovery system (GRTS), installed in 2014.

This property is located at 1501 72^nd St. N near the Tyrone Square Mall in St. Petersburg, FL. With easy access to highways and airports, close proximity to major retail and commercial areas, and located within minutes of the beach, CDC considers this former manufacturing site an excellent location for vertical development. Additionally, the densely-populated Tampa Bay / St. Petersburg area is home to a motivated workforce and one of the fastest-growing metro areas in the country. The site is located within Pinellas County, the most densely-populated county in the state of Florida, which CDC considers to be an excellent indicator of the potential for a variety of end uses, which could include multi-family housing, retail, or mixed use.

CDC has already received interest from several end users and other developers regarding this highly sought after in-fill development site, and will continue to work towards building a productive community asset at this location.

“We consider the Raytheon site in St. Petersburg a tremendous opportunity for new development, and we are very excited to see the economic benefits this transaction brings to the St. Petersburg area” said Brian O’Connell, Director of Acquisitions at CDC. “The success of Raytheon’s environmental clean-up plan at the site should not be overlooked, they should be commended for creating a pathway for redevelopment and for bringing this strategically-located site back to productive use.”

Joe Lieser and Mike Heretick of Vector Commercial Real Estate represented the purchaser in the transaction, Jones Lange LaSalle represented the seller.