Well-known St. Pete Realtor Bonnie Strickland switches to commercial real estate
Broker Bonnie Strickland, a key figure in the luxury residential real estate world of St. Petersburg for years, is now focusing on commercial real estate with a special focus on high-end retail.
While she had previously sold some commercial properties, it was often for her private clients, such as helping someone sell their law firm after she helped them sell their beach house, Strickland said.
Now she wants to help fill a void in St. Petersburg’s attraction to wealthy newcomers: expensive shopping.
“I’ve walked downtown now where I got my shot … I don’t care if the woman is 20 or 80, she’s wearing a Gucci or Prada or Louis Vuitton (wallet),” said Strickland. “You can see the money is clearly here.”
Strickland founded the Strickland Property Group in 2010 and has grown to become one of the top luxury companies in Pinellas County. In early 2019, she sold it to New York-based Douglas Elliman, one of the largest real estate agents in the country. She resigned a little over a year later after an apparent argument and spent the summer of 2020 in Colorado, she said, taking time off.
But she recently announced that she had joined the Coldwell Banker Commercial NRT office in downtown St. Pete. She has a non-compete clause in her contract with Douglas Elliman that prevents her from practicing residential real estate anyway, she said, but is still excited about the new direction.
One particular area she hopes to contribute to high-end retail is the corridor along 22nd Street S from 1st to 6th streets within the boundaries of the Warehouse Arts District that is the subject of a proposal for Re-zoning is that would allow for more retail and residential properties in this section of the industrial area.
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Strickland said she has not yet met with Miami developer Joe Furst, who is spearheading this plan and has played a key role in redeveloping that city’s trendy Wynwood neighborhood. But if not, Sundial would be high on their list too.
Strickland added that she is interested in exploring ideas for the tax revenues that the affordable housing businesses are generating.
“It would be a big money maker for our city. Why should Tampa or Sarasota make all the money in high-end retail? ” She said. “Let us share in the wealth and help feed the poor.”
The pandemic has rocked the commercial real estate world and a cloud of uncertainty hangs over retail and office space as the demand for warehouse and residential buildings in Tampa Bay booms.
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But Strickland said high-end retail is different from the big stores that were struggling.
“What I bring here would attract people who want to shop and go to museums and have lunch and eat,” she said, “and they will pay for it.”