REAL ESTATE NEWS

Supplement Manufacturing Partners (SMP Nutra) is transferring its headquarters from Florida to New York in a move that the firm believes will boost employment and commercial opportunities.

Its broker, JLL, helped secure the new 103,494 square feet space lease. It will be located in Largo, Florida at 12333 Enterprise Boulevard and consist of two commercial buildings. Both contain warehouse spaces of 91,000 square feet and 12,000 square feet of office space each.

The industrial buildings will consist of more than 100 workers. Some executives intend on transferring to the new sites, according to the company. SMP Nutra, which has more than 700 stock formulas, is making the move from Long Island, New York.

"Florida's business-friendly environment, coupled with a robust labor market, makes it an ideal location to move our headquarters and expand our business operations," Steve Milano, owner of SMP Nutra said in a statement.

"We are excited about making this move to the Tampa market, which will create local jobs and have a positive impact on our company's future."

Peter Cecora, senior managing director of JLL, told GlobeSt the move was made because the owner of SMP owns a house in Florida and wanted to get the supplement firm in a lower-cost market.

"They wanted to move out of a more expensive location, their rent was a lot higher," he said.

"They're really limited where they can grow because there were not a whole lot of buildings where they were located [in Long Island]. And obviously, you caught the [cost of] living and then the labor was more expensive."

Also, Cecora noted that the high costs aren't just a New York problem – but in other major markets such as the Bay Area in California and Boston, Massachusetts.

"It's a migration from other higher cost settings," he said.

"So Miami, South Florida, for example, is a good one where multiple groups are coming from South Florida, [and] relocating at least a portion of their business to Central Florida, given the cost savings that they would have here."

Additionally, JLL noted that "adequate commercial space" available in the greater Tampa Bay area was another reason for the move.

And the company spoke about the city's industrial market, which finished with a vacancy rate of 4.7 percent and had over 5.4 million square feet of new space under construction in the first quarter.

"Pinellas County is really known for their manufacturing," said Cecora.

"It's historically been a very high concentration of manufacturing companies, skilled labor, and also defense-related companies are located. They're all your big ones like Honeywell and Raytheon."

SMP Nutra in the negotiations was represented by Cecora, John Dunphy, executive managing director, and Olivia Brook, an associate. The landlord is a joint venture consisting of The STRO Companies and Kushner Companies.

SMP Nutra offers various types of supplements such as soft gels, powders, gummies, and tablets.

Source: GlobeSt/ALM