Piedmont Office Realty Trust, which bought the 10-story SOAB building at 200 S. Orange Ave. in 2020, wants to give it a $5 million makeover to make it appealing for new office tenants who are looking for more natural light and access to outdoor space.
The REIT owns the 30-story office tower next door and paid $20 million for SOAB building that shares the atrium lobby to prevent the former owner, Lincoln Property Services, from converting it to a mixed-use residential building. Some of the concepts from the proposed residential conversion reappeared in the latest appearance review application for exterior renovations.
The proposed plan from ASD|SKY in Tampa would install new floor-to-ceiling windows along the north elevation, facing Church Street, where it’s now a solid masonry wall. About a third of the existing windows on the east elevation facing S. Orange Avenue would be expanded to create a more light-filled space. The upper floor office spaces also would get new balconies at the corner with transparent glass railings and wood-look metal panels on the ceilings.
The existing rose and brown granite along the building’s three lower floors would remain, but the rest of the exterior facade would be painted white.
The plan also calls for a new front entrance with porcelain floor tile extending through the sidewalk, new doors and a cantilevered canopy for protection from the elements. The awnings over the second-story windows also would be replaced with a matching, horizontal canopy system. A streetlight directly in front of the main entrance also would be removed, but the canopy over the front door would incorporate exterior lighting.
JLL Managing Director John Gilbert handles leasing for the building and the adjacent tower. The SOAB building has 127,248 square feet of leasible office space and 5,265 square feet of restaurant space formerly occupied by Wahlburgers.
This would be the most recent in a string of office building renovations downtown. Last year Third & Urban completed a renovation of the AECOM-anchored building at 150 N. Orange Ave. and rebranded it as The Fulcrum Building.
Meanwhile, West Second Street Associates received ARB approval earlier this summer for the exterior renovations of the long-vacant office building at 500 N. Orange Ave. and the construction of a new parking garage. WSSA and Baker Barrios redesigned the parking garage to make it less imposing.
Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at lkinsler@GrowthSpotter.com or (407) 420-6261, or tweet me at @byLauraKinsler. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
