Tupperware Closes Sale-Leaseback and Will Keep Orlando Headquarters

Tupperware Brands said it will stay in the Orlando area after closing a long-term sale-leaseback with O'Connor Capital Partners covering about 41 acres where its headquarters sits.

The deal transferred about 108 acres and is the first of two transactions meant to finish the sale of the company's remaining land in Central Florida to O'Connor Capital Partners. A later sale of undeveloped land around the headquarters was planned before the end of 2020. The company said selling the land fits a turnaround plan that puts capital toward stabilizing the core business and making operations more efficient.

Chief executive Miguel Fernandez said the leaseback shows a continued commitment to Central Florida and that supporting the area around headquarters will stay a priority during the turnaround.

The company has been based in the Orlando area since 1953, when founder Earl Tupper bought more than 1,300 acres of undeveloped land in what was then a small farm community. The business, then called Tupperware Home Parties, was the largest corporation in the area. The company said it remains the eighth largest publicly traded company in the Orlando area.

Peter Bergner of O'Connor Capital Partners said the firms have been partners on many properties in the Kissimmee area since 2003. Tom Roehlk, vice president of real estate development at Tupperware Brands, said a land sale of this scale matters for growth in Orange and Osceola counties.

Earlier joint work near Kissimmee included The Loop and The Crosslands, retail, dining, and entertainment sites covering more than 130 acres in northern Osceola County, and the start of a 37-acre transit-oriented project next to the Tupperware SunRail station. The company said developing the remaining acreage is expected to create construction and other jobs south of downtown Orlando and to advance the SunRail station work in Kissimmee.