Pinellas County approves $5 million in funding for industrial complex in St. Pete's Gateway area

Greystar’s gateway logistics center that’s currently underway | Greystar/JLL

The Gateway Logistics Center, an industrial complex in St. Petersburg’s Gateway area, is moving forward into the second construction phase thanks to funding from Pinellas County.

Greystar Development East LLC, a subsidiary of Greystar Real Estate Partners, is developing the 61-acre Class A industrial center at 2690 Gateway Centre Parkway on the northeast corner of 28th Street North and Gandy Boulevard.

The commercial project is part of a 93-acre development on a site formerly owned by Jabil Inc., a global manufacturing services company, that once envisioned a new headquarters campus on the property.

THE SITE IS ONE OF THE LARGEST DEVELOPABLE TRACTS OF LAND IN PINELLAS COUNTY | greystar/JLL

During a Tuesday Pinellas County Commission meeting, officials unanimously approved providing $4,925,408 to close the funding gap for the developer to proceed to the next phase of the Gateway Logistics Center, which currently houses 291,000 square feet of industrial space across three new buildings.

The development is the largest industrial development Pinellas County has seen in over two decades and will contain over 622,000 square feet of industrial space once complete.

The entire $57.2 million center will include six industrial buildings ranging between 78,000 and 150,000 square feet with 32-foot clear heights.

The first two buildings were completed in late 2023 and are fully occupied.

Greystar's request was one of six new applications approved for funding through the Penny for Pinellas Employment Sites Program (ESP), which is anticipated to award over $90 million to developers, businesses, and other agencies over 10 years.

The ESP was formed in 2021 to help close the funding gaps for the construction and redevelopment of industrial sites. During the first phase of development, Greystar experienced geotechnical issues stemming from poor soil conditions.

A rendering of one of the proposed industrial buildings | Greystar/JLL

Teresa Brydon, Business Development Manager of the Pinellas County Economic Development team, informed commissioners that Greystar "unfortunately hit huge obstacles because of the dirt and land underneath it [the site] and they were faced with some significant uphill battles to be able to bring the second phase to fruition."

Greystar did not request funds from the County during the first phase of construction.

The second phase will entail similar extensive groundwork to build 332,000 square feet of industrial space across three buildings.

"They have to take time to build up this land and to make sure it becomes a stable ground to build the facilities," Brydon said. "When they bought that land, they had no clue they were going to be up against that."

The developer anticipates the facilities will create over 600 direct jobs from future tenants.

The first building of phase two will provide 92,838 square feet. The second and third buildings will be identical 119,477-square-foot buildings.

Commercial real estate brokerage JLL is handling leasing for the property.

Construction on phase two of the Gateway Logistics Center is expected to begin this year.

Greystar, the largest operator of multifamily apartments in the United States, also developed Marlowe Gandy, a 425-unit, 18-acre apartment complex at the site. Move-ins recently began at the community and construction is expected to wrap up later this year.

The mixed-income community will have 85 income-restricted units for residents who earn less than 120% of the area median income (AMI). The remaining apartments will be market rate units.