Real Estate Briefs (Sara/Mana edition)

Real Property Specialists builds

Broyhill store, new retail center

Orlando's Real Property Specialists Inc. purchased a former Scotty's building at the northwest corner of Tamiami Trail and Wharf Road in Sarasota from C. Fred Hudson III and his trust for $1.2 million. The new owner plans to renovate the 40,000-square-foot building as a Hudson's Broyhill Furniture store. "We had been looking for a site in Sarasota (for Hudson's Broyhill) for about four years," says Alan Charron, president of Real Property Specialists Inc. "This is located in furniture row. Every major retailer is there in the market. There is a Robb & Stucky, Ethan Allen, Rooms to Go. ... We are also planning to build a 16,000-square-foot retail building on the site."

Sarasota Palms Plaza will be built on a portion of the former Scotty's parking lot and will hold from three to 10 retail tenants. Charron says the rental rates will be about $20 a square foot triple net. The new building, already under construction, is scheduled for completion in about five months. Sarasota's Tandem Construction is the general contractor for the plaza. Total development cost of both buildings, including the purchase of the property, is estimated at $6 million.

Real Property Specialists also owns two Hudson's Broyhill Furniture stores in the Tampa Bay area. And the company plans to close on parcels for developments in Venice and Tampa's Westchase within the next few weeks.

"We are building a building in Venice in front of the Super Wal-Mart," Charron says. "Right now, we are trying to decide whether to go with one user or a number of tenants." The building is slated to be about 12,000 square feet. "We will be buying the property in the next 30 days. But we already have it under contract. We will start construction in the next 60 days and it should be completed about three months later." The rental rate for the new building is expected to be in the mid-$20s a square foot triple net. The development cost for the Venice facility is $2.5 million, including land acquisition costs.

The final building, called The Avenue at Westchase in northwest Tampa Bay on the south side of Linebaugh Avenue half a mile west of Sheldon Road, is designed as a 160,000-square-foot mixed-use office, residential and retail lifestyle center. About 70,000 square feet will be dedicated to retail users, 50,000 square feet for office users and the remainder for condominiums. "We should be breaking ground in February," Charron says. "It will take about six months to build the first phase." Total development cost for The Avenue at Westchase will be more than $10 million.

Gulf Coast landlord

buys Grand Oaks apartments

A local investment group, called Grand Oaks LLC, purchased the Woodcrest Townhouse Apartments at 4915 26th St. W. in Bradenton from Atlantic Resources A-Woodcrest Apartments LLC for $1.85 million. "This is what we do for a living," says Ken Carlson, managing member of the three-member group. "It was a dump. We buy broken down, depressed apartments and make them brand new. We don't repair anything. We replace everything."

Construction has started on the 62-unit multi-building complex. "We will try to fix all the hazardous things first," says Carlson. "We will repair all the pot holes in the parking lot and driveway and replace the damaged sidewalk." Carlson says the group also plans to replace roofs with pitched roofs. All of the buildings now have flat roofs, which are prone to leaks. In addition, Grand Oaks LLC will renovate the management office and install new air-conditioners for each unit.

There are currently 14 vacant apartments. Asked about the need to raise rental rates to recoup construction costs, Carlson says. "Typically we don't do that right away. You have to be competitive."

The partnership owns apartments in Orlando, Tallahassee and the Avondale Apartments in Bradenton. Carlson says that the partners are long-term apartment owners. A former leasing manager at the Avondale Apartments will take over management of the 26th Street apartment complex. The new ownership group will perform most of the construction management itself.

CL Realty plans

Manatee River Plantations

Atlanta-based Cousins Properties Inc. has partnered with Austin-based Lumbermen's Investment Corp. to develop a residential subdivision on Mulholland Road in Manatee County. Lumbermen's Investment Corp. transferred the property to the two-company partnership, CL Realty, for $1.4 million. Matt Gove, spokesman for Cousins Properties, says the real estate companies plan to develop the property as a 460 single-family lot community called Manatee River Plantations. "We will buy the land, install the infrastructure and get the lots ready for sale to a home builder," Gove says. "Right now we are still developing the construction schedule."

CL Realty is also developing a 305 single-family lot subdivision on 103 acres in Manatee County called Creekside Oaks.

Griffin Properties, Sara-Eagle

buy Hillview building

Sarasota businessmen Bill Griffin and Randy Salser of Griffin Properties and Sara-Eagle LLC purchased the Hillview Professional Building at 1888 Hillview St. from Sarasota Neurological Land Partnership and Dr. Jerald Steiner for $1.8 million. Eddie Morton, who handles sales and leasing for Griffin Properties, says the property was bought as an investment. The 8,000-square-foot building has one tenant, Dr. Jerald Steiner, who occupies about 1,000 square feet. "They are not sure whether it should stay as a medical office building or be opened to additional office users," Morton says. "The building is in great shape." The rental rate for the space is $22 a square foot triple net. The leasing agent for the new owners is Erick Shumway of Re/Max Suncoast Realty.

ETC...

× Vitruvian LLC purchased 13,878 square feet of vacant commercial land at 2062 Fruitville Road and 220 Wallace Ave. in Sarasota from Sanford Cohen for $285,000. John Harshman of Harshman & Co. Inc. represented the seller.