California realty firm scoops up shuttered Macy’s call center in Clearwater

A real estate investment and management company that’s known for acquiring vacated properties once used by Macy’s has scooped up another property – the Macy’s call center in Clearwater.

California-based LBA Realty bought the 34-acre, 645,841-square-foot Clearwater facility in a roughly $17.9 million deal from Macy’s Credit and Customer Services Inc. The facility is next to a building that Seattle-based Amazon anchors, and is across from Raymond James’ headquarters. 

An aerial view of the Macy’s property in Clearwater. GoogleMaps.

“Everybody who looked at this property saw redevelopment potential of the extra land,” said Pat Marzulli, who listed the site and specializes in industrial properties with Colliers International. 

The industrial property at 13141 34th St. North was on the market for six months. Sources familiar with the deal said the acquired Clearwater facility will likely be used as a first- and last-mile distribution hub. 

LBA Realty owns and operates over 9 million square feet of office space in the major markets. LBA Realty is the same company that purchased the Macy’s furniture gallery and warehouse property at 4130 W. Gandy Boulevard in late 2020 for $32 million.  

The firm is also known for working with Amazon on securing locations. Last year, LBA and its partner RXR Realty closed on a $316 million construction loan to build a new Amazon distribution hub in Queens, New York. 

The 160,000-plus-square-foot call center in Clearwater. Loopnet.

While the Clearwater facility will likely be used as a first- and last-mile distribution hub, sources said it would not be Amazon. 

The Clearwater facility was built in 1974 and has a backup generator and a full-size kitchen. 

The call center was only one of two centers Macy’s kept open after consolidating its customer service operations at two facilities. 

The consolidation was part of an updated strategy designed to stabilize profitability as more than 100 brick-and-mortar stores are slated to close. 

Macy’s offices in San Francisco, downtown Cincinnati and Lorain, Ohio and a customer contact center in Tempe, Arizona closed while Clearwater and another facility in Ohio were to remain open for the consolidation.