Sacred Heart Catholic Church has acquired the 12-story Madison Building at 412 E. Madison St., a property immediately south of the historic downtown Tampa sanctuary that once served as the site of Tampa's Jesuit High School. The parish is now inviting parishioners to a series of community listening sessions to help decide what comes next for the roughly 266,000-square-foot building, which currently operates as a professional office tower with leases running through August 2031.
The acquisition was structured through JHS OG LLC, which purchased the property for $15 million, according to property records cited by Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. Blake Casper, who serves as a manager for JHS OG LLC, told the Tampa Bay Business Journal that he is holding the property on behalf of the church. Casper, a 1991 graduate of Tampa Jesuit, purchased the building alongside Ray Hyer, CEO of Gardner Asphalt, in a deal that closed March 31. Sacred Heart itself has declined to disclose the financial details of how it will ultimately acquire the property from the holding company.
The Madison Building had been under continuous family ownership tied to Grandoff Investments since it was constructed in 1966, and the April sale marked the first time it had ever been offered on the open commercial market, according to the Business Observer, which reported that brokerage firm TMC-The Mahr Co. represented the sellers. The property last changed hands for $1.5 million in 2015. Hillsborough County property records cited by Tampa Bay Business & Wealth placed the building's assessed tax valuation at roughly $9.9 million before the $15 million sale, a price that worked out to about $56 per total square foot or $130 per heated square foot of the building's 114,000 square feet of office space. The building also includes a 350-space parking garage, which the church already uses — Sacred Heart updated its Mass parking validation system there to a ticketless QR-code system in August.
A Building With Deep Jesuit Roots
The site carries history that predates the current tower. Jesuits once owned the entire city block that includes the Madison Building, according to a church spokesperson, and Tampa's Jesuit High School operated there before relocating to N. Himes Avenue in 1956. The Madison Building was developed only after that original school structure was demolished, putting Sacred Heart in a position decades later to reclaim land connected to its own institutional history.
Sacred Heart traces its own roots back to St. Louis Parish, founded in 1859, and its current sanctuary at 509 N. Florida Ave. was dedicated in 1905. That church, built in Romanesque Revival style with a granite and marble exterior and 70 stained-glass windows, cost $300,000 to construct and was designed by architect Nicholas J. Clayton. Though built and originally operated by the Jesuit order, the parish transitioned to Franciscan Friars administration in January 2006, a century after the church was built, when Fr. Andrew Reitz was installed as its first Franciscan pastor. Sacred Heart is recognized as the oldest active Catholic church and parish in the Diocese of St. Petersburg, which was formally established in 1968.
What Could Fill the Space
Sacred Heart is weighing a range of possibilities for the Madison Building, including community event spaces, outreach ministries, sacramental celebrations, and green space with reflection gardens, per Creative Loafing Tampa Bay's reporting. The parish has not announced detailed plans, and no decisions appear imminent given the commercial leases still in place through 2031. Fr. Michael Jones said those leases give the parish five years to discern and dream, and he has reported that Mass attendance has grown significantly in recent months.
The idea of expanding parish facilities isn't new. Sacred Heart launched its True North Vision planning effort in 2018 to prepare for growth amid accelerating commercial and residential development in downtown Tampa, setting aside dedicated capital funds for an eventual expansion. The congregation draws parishioners from more than 150 ZIP codes across the Tampa Bay area and already supports regional outreach like its Bikes from the Heart ministry, which donates refurbished bicycles to workers in need, according to Gulf Coast Catholic.
Listening Sessions Begin This Month
Fr. Jones has said parishioner input is necessary to realize a vision for the property, and the church is opening that process to the public through a string of one-hour listening sessions. The first two are scheduled for October 25 at 11:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., followed by sessions on October 29 at 6 p.m., November 1 at 1 p.m., November 4 at 7 p.m., November 5 at 6 p.m., and November 8 at 10 a.m.
For now, the Madison Building remains an active office tower, with tenants including the Secret Garden salad bar and a recording studio where comedian Hannibal Buress worked with local producer and bassist Rugawd. Those operations are expected to continue for years as Sacred Heart works through its planning process, but the parish's reacquisition of land tied to its Jesuit origins gives the listening sessions a weight that goes beyond typical zoning talk — it's a congregation deciding how to use a piece of its own history.
