In fall 2013, Related Group, a longtime condo developer in Miami, completed its first project in downtown Tampa, a 356-unit apartment complex called Pierhouse. Several months later, Related sold the four-story, four-building complex to Florida’s public pension fund for $76.5 million.

Since then, Related has begun work on two apartment developments in Tampa and won a bid to overhaul the city’s oldest public housing project. It’s also active in St. Petersburg, where it plans an apartment high-rise on Central Avenue downtown.

Related sees the Tampa Bay area as a strong market with above-average job growth and an increasing number of young, educated residents who prefer highdensity, urban-type living.

“We follow jobs, but we also follow quality of life,” says Steve Patterson, who heads up Related’s multifamily and mixed-use development division.

Related’s Tampa Bay-Area Projects

» In 2014, Related unveiled plans for a 21-story apartment tower in Tampa’s Harbour Island neighborhood. The Manor at Harbour Island will have 340 units and a pedestrian skyway stretching to a garage in a neighboring office building. Construction began in January. Leasing is expected to start in the spring, with rents averaging about $2,400 a month.

» In 2015, Related paid nearly $18 million for the Tampa Tribune building on the west bank of the Hillsborough River. (The Tampa Bay Times has since bought and closed the Tribune.) After demolishing the building, Related plans to develop 400 apartments and a riverfront restaurant.

» Related plans to begin building a 15-story apartment building in downtown St. Petersburg in 2017. The project includes 370 apartments and ground-floor retail space. Related also envisions restoring an historic bank building on Central Avenue.

» In June, the Tampa Housing Authority chose Related to replace World War II-era public housing with a new transit-oriented community for low- and moderate-income families. The proposed West River project covers nearly 200 acres west of the Hillsborough River downtown. Plans call for more than 170,000 square feet of commercial space and about 1,640 homes, including rental and for-sale units. Related’s affordable housing arm, Related Urban Development Group, will lead the $500-million effort.

Players

Rhonda Mims

» Rhonda Mims, an attorney and chair of the Executive Leadership Council, a Virginia non-profi t devoted to raising the ranks of black executives, was named senior vice president and chief public affairs offi cer at WellCare Health Plans in Tampa.

» John McLendon, previously of MedStar Health in Columbia, Md., joined Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg as vice president and chief information offi cer.

» Suncoast Aquatic Nature Center Associates, a non-profi t that runs Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, hired Robert Sullivan as president and CEO. Sullivan formerly managed an events center in Wichita Falls, Texas.

Innovation Career-Planning App

The Pinellas Education Foundation in Largo has developed an app to help high school students decide on a career path. The Future Plans app asks users about their interests and abilities and then recommends related jobs in growing industries. Last spring, the U.S. Department of Education and Reach Higher, an initiative by first lady Michelle Obama, recognized Future Plans as one of five finalists in a national apps development contest, awarding it $25,000. Foundation President Terry Boehm will step down next year to focus on expanding Future Plans, which has been spun off into its own business. The app has more than 50,000 users.

Business Briefs

COLLIER COUNTY — Home builder Toll Bros. Purchased 133 acres in Hacienda Lakes near Naples, where it plans to develop a community with about 420 residences.

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY — Aero Simulation, which makes flight simulators for military and commercial aircraft, will move to a 60,000-sq.-ft. facility in Hillsborough County, creating 40 jobs and investing $7.5 million. The Tampa company employs about 60. » Gladstone Land of McLean, Va., bought a 70-acre strawberry farm in the county for $1.7 million.

LAKELAND — Florida Polytechnic University unveiled plans for a wellness and aquatics center to open next summer.

LUTZ — Mettler Toledo, a supplier of scales and instruments for industrial uses, is moving operations from Hillsborough County to Lutz, where it plans to employ 500. The deal includes $5.5 million in incentives from Pasco County.

SARASOTA — Tech entrepreneur Andre Spivey bought an American Basketball Association team for the Sarasota-Bradenton market, calling it the Sarasota Manatees. » Sarasota-based Carlson Studio Architecture opened an office in Seattle.

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA — Newsroom employees at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and the Lakeland Ledger have voted to unionize.

ST. PETERSBURG — New York investment firm TGM Associates paid about $94 million for Bay Isle, a 582-unit apartment complex on 50 acres near I-275 and Gandy Boulevard. » Sembler Co., a St. Petersburg-based development firm, opened an offi ce in Raleigh, N.C.

TAMPA — United Airlines will offer daily non-stop service to San Francisco from Tampa International Airport starting in February. » Panama Citybased Linea Peninsular signed a deal with Port Tampa Bay to launch a container shipping service to Mexico. » Management consulting firm McManis & Monsalve Associates of Erie, Pa., is expanding to Tampa and opening an office for Monsalve Tool & Design, a subsidiary that provides machining services.

TAMPA BAY — A pilot ferry program connecting the downtown waterfronts of St. Petersburg and Tampa received final government approval. HMS Ferries was to begin running daily ferry service across Tampa Bay in November, with one-way fares costing $10.

Obituary: George Michael Billiris

“Without a sense of humor, you’re out of luck. There’s a bright side to all of it, regardless of how bad it really is.”

Sponge diver George Michael Billiris died in September. He was 89. [“Icon,” FloridaTrend.Com, April 2016].