Industrial space next to Tesla center in Lealman sells

Medical manufacturing firm Hilltop Research has sold its office space in Lealman in a $7.1 million deal, further signaling the real estate momentum taking shape in underserved area just north of St. Petersburg. 

Largo-based DF Asset Group purchased the 55,032-square-foot facility adjacent to the newly opened Tesla Service Center. 

The buying entity is connected to Eagle Labs Inc., which manufactures vitamins/minerals, specialty supplements and other nutrition-based medicine. 

Ned Willis of Vector Commercial Real Estate Services represented the buying entity, which assumed a $5.1 million mortgage loan from Loanis LLC for the purchase of the building at 4711 34th St. N. 

According to a report, Hilltop Research will lease back 31,000 square feet of the multi-tenant building. The property can be used for both office and light industrial tenants. 

The transaction represents one of the latest investments in the unincorporated Pinellas County neighborhood, following the construction and opening of the 102,410-square-foot Tesla Motors center, which was formerly the site of a Kane’s Furniture liquidation center. 

The proximity of the two buildings. 

“We saw Tesla take advantage of the prime location. It is just the first domino to fall,” said Jeremy Heath, chair of the Lealman Community Redevelopment Area Advisory Committee.

“The Lealman CRA has identified the Joe’s Creek Industrial Park as an area for potential mixed-use development, and not just for Lealman, but throughout St. Pete. The [$50 million] improvements for Joe’s Creek, our transit activity and proposed bike connectivity is setting the area up for the next five years,” he continued. 

Other developments in the CRA uplifting Lealman’s economy include newly built Habitat for Humanity homes, which helps low-income residents achieve homeownership, and Lealman Heights, a planned 86-unit affordable housing complex.