Most people can’t imagine that a 63,000 square foot Office-Warehouse building in Largo, FL would have much in common with the North Pole, but this holiday season, owner Jeffrey Morris has turned the vacancy in his local commercial building at 7150 114th Avenue N. in Largo into a workshop for Santa. Morris is donating the space to Pinellas County Toys for Tots as a storage and distribution center for their 2019 Toy Drive.
“Absolutely”, said Morris, when asked if he’d consider donating the warehouse space for the cause. “Whatever they need.”
Coordinated by the US Marine Corps Reserve, the Toys for Tots program is a not-for-profit charity that conducts campaigns in over 800 communities in all 50 states. They count on local volunteers and businesses to make those campaigns a success.
While most of us are aware of the Toys for Tots collection boxes in local stores and the toy drives and events held around the country at this time of year, we often forget that all of those gifts must be sorted and distributed to needy families. That takes space…lots of space.
Pinellas County Coordinator Edward Zaleski, III finds that space each year with help from local Realtors. In Pinellas County, they typically need 15,000 – 20,000 square feet of space to collect, sort and distribute toys to local families. Three to four dozen volunteers will start handing out collection boxes from the site over the next couple of weeks. Once they start receiving toys, volunteers will sort them and get them ready for distribution.
“At the end of the day, we are going to help put smiles on the faces of about 7,500 kids on Christmas morning,” says Zaleski. “That’s the goal.”
When Santa and his elves have given away the last gift and closed up their workshop for this year, 7150 114th Ave N will once again be available for sale or lease, represented by Commercial Partners Realty. Broker Scott Clendening, having appropriately just celebrated his Christmas birthday, will be available for showings and can be reached at (727) 822-4715. More information on the space can be found at cprteam.com/property/largo-flex-office-for-sale.
Commercial Partners Realty is a full service Commercial Real Estate brokerage specializing in Office, Industrial, Retail and Investment leasing and sales. Representing landlords, tenants, buyers and sellers of commercial real estate in Tampa Bay and West Central Florida, they have transacted over four hundred million dollars of real estate.