Bank OZK Loans $182 Million for Tampa’s Gasworx Development

Bank OZK has stepped in with a nine-figure loan to support a massive development outside downtown Tampa.

The $182 million loan will help fund the next phase of Gasworx, a 50-acre mixed-use development in the Ybor City area, the Tampa Bay Business Journal reported. It’s the area’s biggest financing deal in years.

The project is being led by developer Darryl Shaw, in collaboration with Kettler, a Washington, D.C.-based real estate firm, and an international partner, PPF Group. The development will feature 5,000 residences, 500,000 square feet of office space, 140,000 square feet of retail space, pedestrian-friendly streets and green space.

The loan and partnership will finance the construction of what is known as the “E blocks,” which includes the 100,000-square-foot headquarters of Grow Financial Credit Union and a historic warehouse that will be converted into restaurants and retail space.

The “E blocks” will also include five-story, 140-unit and 10-story, 376-unit residential buildings with retail spaces of 18,000 and 29,000 square feet. Clark Builders Group and Moss Construction have been selected as the general contractors.

When the Gasworx project is completed, it will span several districts, including Encore, the Channel District and downtown.

Seventy loans in the nine figures have been filed in Tampa’s Hillsborough County in the last decade, most linked to multistate portfolios. The most recent comparable deal occurred in April 2022 when American Land Ventures secured a $113 million loan for the Arts and Entertainment Residences in downtown Tampa, forming a partnership with Gazit Globe’s North American affiliate.

— Andrew Terrell