PwC to take 250,000sf at MetWest International

TAMPA – PwC US, the Big Four assurance, tax and advisory firm, has signed a long-term lease with MetLife for an approximately 250,000sf build-to-suit office building at MetWest International, the two organizations announced.

In signing a long-term deal to build a state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly facility in the area, PwC is recommitting to its future – and signaling its confidence – in the greater Tampa community.

Approximately 2,000 PwC partners and staff from the firm’s Tampa practice office and Tampa Enterprise Solutions Center (ESC) will move to MetWest Two during the second quarter of 2013. Currently, these operations are in separate locations at 4221 W. Boy Scout Blvd. and 3109 and 3111 W. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., respectively.

The new building will be home to PwC’s Tampa-based client service professionals, an Assurance Delivery Center and a number of the firm’s key internal functions, such as information technology; finance; human resources operations and systems; and learning and development. Taylor & Mathis, the development manager of the project, said construction of the new building will begin this week.

“MetLife is extremely pleased to welcome such a high caliber firm as PwC to MetWest International. The addition of PwC makes a definitive statement of support for MetWest as one of the top mixed-use developments in Florida. The central location in the Westshore area as well as the many high-quality amenities the development offers are strategic factors contributing to the success of this project,” said Chuck Davis, regional director of MetLife’s Tampa real estate investment office.

“We remain committed to serving the business community in Tampa for the long haul. PwC’s success is based on building relationships, delivering quality and value, and winning in the marketplace. The new building will support all of these elements locally for both our clients and our people, particularly as our ESC and practice teams work alongside each other in the same facility,” said Mike Quackenbush, managing partner of PwC’s Tampa practice office.

A key factor in PwC’s site selection was the opportunity to consolidate multiple operations into a single-tenant new development building and construct new space to accommodate today’s non-traditional, collaborative work style and provide increased flexibility for its employees. By building instead of renovating, the firm has the opportunity to design the space in a way that it could not with existing structures.

PwC was represented by Timothy J. Dempsey and Bill Obregon of CB Richard Ellis and Robert Reichman, Esq. of Wilk Auslander LLP. MetLife was represented by Hank Brenner and Angela Odell of Taylor & Mathis.

Approximately 2,000 PwC partners and staff from the firms Tampa practice office and Tampa Enterprise Solutions Center (ESC) will move to MetWest Two during the second quarter of 2013. MetWest One shown.

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