Homes may replace gunboat factory, corn syrup hub

Aerial view of 31-acre Peninsula Point in Tampa
Aerial view of 31-acre Peninsula Point in Tampa

Bayfront land in Tampa marketed as a residential development site has been listed for sale with a $29.5 million asking price.

The land for sale, known as Peninsula Point, is the industrially zoned home of a Cargill distribution center for corn syrup and a manufacturer of gunboats for U.S.-allied foreign countries, among other tenants.

A rezoning of the 31-acre location, just south of the Gandy Bridge over Tampa Bay, could position it for development of 1,100 residential units.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

Three other large residential developments already are under way at nearby locations. But Tampa broker Bill Eshenbaugh, who is handling the Peninsula Point listing, told the Tampa Bay Business Journal, “We think we’re going to be the gem at the end of the process.”

Eshenbaugh is marketing Peninsula Point on behalf of Viper Ventures LLC, which bought the property for  $7 million before the real estate market tanked in the late 2000s.

Eshenbaugh has enlisted the help of Coral Gables-based Simply Marinas, a specialist in marina sales, to find a tenant for a 7.3-acre piece of Peninsula Point where the gunboat manufacturer occupies a 67,000-square-foot building on a month-to-month lease. [Tampa Bay Business Journal] — Mike Seemuth