Larry Feldman, CEO of Feldman Equities, and his son, Mack COVER STORY Feldman, share a laugh. Inset: Mike DiBlasi joined Feldman Equities as executive vice evolutionTHE FELDMAN president in 2016. As Feldman Equities preps to break ground on a 52-story tower in downtown Tampa, the family business is changing BY ASHLEY GURBAL KRITZER
[email protected], 813-342-2476, @TBBJASHLEY hen Mike DiBlasi was leasing office space for Liberty Property Group, he noticed a common refrain from other commercial real estate brokers. “It was, ‘Well, Larry Feldman would never do that. Larry Feldman wouldn’t take that position,’” said DiBlasi, who was Liberty’s senior director of leasing until the company exited the Tampa market in 2016. “I’m like, all right, I gotta meet this Larry Feldman.” Feldman’s tactful approach to negotiations has wooed brokers, tenants and, as it turned out, DiBlasi, who joined Feldman Equities as executive vice pres- ident of leasing and marketing in September. WDiBlasi’s hire was a calculated play in Feldman’s quest to become a dominant office landlord in the Tampa Bay region. Feldman came here from New York in 2009 to snap up post-recession bargains on commercial real estate and has since built a portfolio that makes him the third largest owner of office space in the region, along with his longtime partners, at Tower Realty. And he’s not done yet: The CEO of Feldman Equities is about to embark on the development of the 52-story Riverwalk Tower, which will combine water- front restaurants, luxury residential units and office space in one skyline-trans- forming building in downtown Tampa.