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The Brooker Creek South building – the first industrial project supported by Pinellas County’s Employment Sites Program – has sold in a $22.3 million deal.

Tampa-based development group Harrod Properties sold the 130,000-square-foot structure, at 500 Brooker Creek Blvd. in Oldsmar, to Texas-based firm JD Warmack Woodlands LP.

In 2021, the county contributed $908,500 of the ESP funds, which are earmarked for developers or businesses that need help to close a funding gap to make a project financially viable.

To date, Pinellas County has committed over $90 million to assist in the construction and redevelopment of industrial and office buildings to support targeted manufacturing sectors.

When the $15 million project debuted last year, Harrod Properties executives said the 300 direct jobs stemming from the project would have an average salary of $60,000, and the 500 ancillary jobs would have an average salary of roughly $35,000.

“The ESP agreement isn’t tied to the individual jobs, but with the Brooker Creek project, the company Edmund Optics [one of the tenants] was able to retain their operations in Pinellas because this provided the updated modern space they needed,” Pinellas County Economic Development Director Cynthia Johnson said.

However, there is a clause in the agreement regarding job retention.

“In every ESP agreement, we ensure that the property will operate as an industrial building and accommodate employers for at least 20 years. We monitor those agreements, and the new ownership inherits that agreement as part of the sale,” she said.

The 11.27-acre industrial site was one of the last undeveloped parcels that will accommodate a building greater than 100,000 square feet in the county.

Johnson said this is the first ESP-backed project that has sold. She is working with the new owners and said there haven’t been any issues.

Other industrial tenants in the building include Future Development and Design and Belac’s Chromalloy.

Pinellas County has opened the application process for the fifth ESP funding round. The deadline to submit applications is Aug. 25.

All proposals for new construction, expansion or rehabilitation of office and industrial buildings must contain a detailed financing plan. Applicants must describe the lack of funding, which would prevent the project from achieving financial feasibility with sufficient returns to the developer, and the use of the potential funds, according to the county.

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