Commercial RE Briefs

Commercial RE Briefs

by Sean Roth | Real Estate Editor

SARASOTA/MANATEE/CHARLOTTE

California apartment owner buys Twelve Oaks Plaza

BUYER: EJ Partners, Manhattan Beach, Calif.

SELLER: Twelve Oaks Shopping Plaza, Inc

PROPERTY: 7290 55th Ave. E, Bradenton

PRICE: $11.2 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $6.2 million, November 1996

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: EJ Partners purchased the Publix Super Market-anchored Twelve Oaks Plaza shopping center in Bradenton for $11.2 million. The price for the 13-year-old, 80,599-square-foot center comes to $140 per square foot. Publix occupies 55,000 square feet in the center.

David Wells, of the Wells Retail Group of Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Brokerage Co, represented both the seller and the buyer.

"EJ Partners is a group in California that owns several apartment centers in California, Phoenix and Florida," Wells says. "They wanted to trade some of those assets through 1031 exchanges into shopping centers because they're less management intensive." In May, Wells sold the EJ Partners Missouri Crossings in Clearwater.

The Twelve Oaks Plaza turn-key deal was unique not just because of the size of the transaction in Bradenton, but also personally for Wells because for the first time he found himself shopping insurance for one his clients.

"We needed to keep the insurance to below $80,000 a year or the buyer couldn't get as much money out of the loan," Wells says. Ultimately, he wound up playing a large management company's umbrella policy off another insurance company for a private policy to get the center's insurance cost under $80,000.

Bank subsidiary buys Steeplechase

BUYER: Heartwood 7 LLC (Alan Levan and James White), Fort Lauderdale

SELLER: Steeplechase Properties LLC

PROPERTY: SEC 33-36-21, on M-J Road, Myakka City

PRICE: $27.2 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $34.2 million, August 2005

LAW FIRM ON DEED: May Meacham & Davell PA, Fort Lauderdale

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Heartwood 7 LLC, a subcompany of Fort Lauderdale-based BankAtlantic Bancorp, purchased 1,142-acre Steeplechase Estates property for $27.2 million. Although officials from BankAtlantic and the former owner/developer, Michael Tringali, did not return calls for comment, various media and analyst reports say the sale may have been in lieu of foreclosure.

Shortly after Tringali purchased the 1,142-acre sod farm last year, he told the Review his plans to develop an equestrian-focused 184-home community on the site called Steeplechase Estates. Since the purchase however, the demand for residential properties nationwide, and particularly in Florida, has declined significantly.

BankAtlantic is expected to quickly start shopping the property around to potential developers.

Sarasota entrepreneur buys Stickney Point center

BUYER: VH Holdings LLC (principal Todd McNally), Sarasota

SELLER: Chester Hull LLC

PROPERTY: 1874-1894 Stickney Point Road, Sarasota

PRICE: $6.875 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $2 million, June 2002

TITLE FIRM ON DEED: Acclaim Title & Services LLC, Sarasota

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Todd McNally, co-owner of Vestor Homes, Smoothie King, Acclaim Title and Services LLC and several other companies, purchased the 24,000-square-foot shopping center that houses many of those businesses for about $6.9 million.

The center, across from a planned Benderson Development Co. hotel/condo/retail developments, is anchored by a Stonewood Grill & Tavern restaurant. McNally's businesses in the center include: Vestor Homes, Acclaim Title, Vestor Insurance Services, Vestor Realty, Vestor Lending, Smoothie King and Reggie's Fitness.

His businesses have been there about a year-and-a-half, McNally says. "I just really felt it was just the next up-and-coming area."

The center, which is fully leased, also houses a Splash retail store and a 1 Day Gourmet.

McNally's VH Holdings LLC mortgaged the property to Countrywide Commercial Real Estate Finance Inc. for $5.3 million.

Buskirk, Summers & Gravely plan Synovus branch

BUYER: Synovus Clark Investment LLC (principals: Steve Summers, Frank Buskirk and Jeffrey Gravely), Bradenton

SELLER: SRH Hunt Inc.

PROPERTY: Derek Avenue, McIntosh and Clark roads, Sarasota

PRICE: $1.989 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $838,100, August 1997

LAW FIRM ON DEED: John F. Cook PA, Sarasota

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Buskirk, Summers & Gravely Communities Inc. purchased a 1.5-acre parcel at the southwest corner of McIntosh and Clark roads in Palmer Ranch for about $2 million. The Bradenton-based developer plans to build a 6,800-square-foot retail building and a 3,800-square-foot Synovus Bank branch on the site, according to BSG Vice President Adam Buskirk.

Synovus Bank hired BSG to help it expand in Manatee and Sarasota counties; BSG buys the land, develops the building to Synovus' needs and then leases it back to the bank. This summer, BSG acquired property at the northwest corner of University Parkway and Shade Avenue in Sarasota for another Synovus Bank branch.

With permitting and zoning approvals, Buskirk expects to start construction toward the second half of 2007 on both Synovus branches. Completion is projected for mid-2008.

BSG officials haven't decided whether the second building on the Clark Road site will be for one user or multiple tenants. Buskirk says at this point, the developer will build the interior structure to suit the tenant.

"McIntosh is really the back door to Palmer Ranch," Buskirk says. "The real keys were the traffic counts and census figures. It's just a really strong area ... this is the same reason the car dealers are out there."

Along that same line, Germain Toyota is scheduled to break ground next fall on an 18-acre parcel at Clark and Sawyer Loop Road.

BSG mortgaged the property to Synovus Bank of Tampa Bay for $2.8 million.

LEE/COLLIER

Barron Collier buys 4,200-acre Serenoa

BUYER: ECST East Corp. (Juliet and Katherine Sproul and Jennifer Sullivan), Naples

SELLER: Stuart T. Meacham as trustee of the Land Trust 2

PROPERTY: SEC 16-21 47S-29E, Immokalee

PRICE: $34.3 million

SELLER: Premiere Partners III L

PROPERTY: SEC 13-47S-28E, Immokalee

PRICE: $5.93 million

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Grant Fridkin Pearson Athan & Crown PA, Naples

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: The Barron Collier Cos. purchased 4,234 acres south of Immokalee and north of the Naples-based developer's master-planned city-sized development Ave Maria for a total of about $40 million.

The property is best known as Serenoa, a name given to it by developer/builder Lennar Corp., which had proposed developing it as a self-contained master-planned town. Dolly Roberts, of DBR Marketing, confirmed the sale on behalf of Barron Collier, but says that the developer had no immediate plans for the site.

That lack of immediacy is not surprising given the scope of the 5,000-acre Ave Maria. Barron Collier, which is partnering with the founder of Domino's Pizza, Tom Monaghan, envisions Ave Maria as an 11,000-home town nestled around a new Catholic university.

The first phase of the development, which will feature about seven university buildings, an oratory, 100,000 square feet of retail and office space and a water-treatment plant, was reported earlier this year to cost $300 million. Construction started on the huge development back in February, and the first residents and businesses are expected to arrive this summer.

Meanwhile, Barron Collier also plans to kick off a 165-acre commercial park off Immokalee Road called The Business Park at Silver Strand early next year.

Sand Castles Group expects headquarters start next year

Naples-based Sand Castles Group is moving forward with plans to build a new office building at Trade Center Way, J&C Boulevard and Airport Pulling Road in Naples.

Company partners: Richard Spieth, Edward Hernandez and Richard Hedley are permitting a four-story office building featuring 40,000-square-feet of office/showroom space, covered parking for more than 125 cars and a large outdoor pavilion area. Apart from the perk of water views of the Gulf of Mexico, the developers are seeking county approval for a rooftop swimming pool and a helipad.

Spieth says he expects his real-estate conglomerate to occupy about 5,000 to 7,500 square feet of space in the new building for its headquarters.

"But if we thought were a user that wanted to lease or buy the entire building we would certainly go somewhere else," Spieth says. He hopes to get building permits and start construction early next year. Space in the new building is being listed for sale for $375 per square foot and for lease in the low $30s per square foot.

Sand Castles Group, is a holding company for an estate home building company, a general contactor/developer/engineering firm, a builder, mortgage brokerage, property manager, title service firm, pool builder and other companies.

Land Solutions, Development Solutions buying new HQ

BUYER: GT 40 LLC (principal: Randy Thibaut), Fort Myers

SELLER: Calvin Wible

PROPERTY: 4571 Colonial Blvd., Fort Myers

PRICE: $2.66 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $1.3 million, November 1995

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP, Naples

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Fort Myers-based Land Solutions Inc. and sister company Development Solutions purchased an office building on Colonial Boulevard for $2.066 million. The building, which is planned as the new headquarters for the two real estate companies, is 20,290 square feet, according to the Lee County Property Appraiser's office.

"We're only going to take a portion of the building, and we'll be leasing out the rest," says Gail Lynn, marketing coordinator for Land Solutions and Development Solutions.

But Lynn was unsure of the future move-in date, principally because the companies are planning to extensively renovate the building. While, she made it clear both the interior and exterior of the building will be updated, the only concrete examples she could point to were new flooring and hurricane-resistant windows.

The two companies, which provide synergistic development services, now employ about 20 people. Land Solutions is a land acquisition company while Development Solutions is the permitting and approval wing of the development company. Randy Thibaut owns both companies. The two companies currently lease space at 6150 Diamond Centre Court, Suite 1300, Fort Myers.

The buying entity, GT 40 LLC, mortgaged the building to Colonial Bank NA for $3.16 million.

TAMPA BAY

Philadelphia real estate fund acquires five North Reo buildings

BUYER: North Reo Street LP, Philadelphia

SELLER: Clear Channel Real Estate LLC

PROPERTY: 402 N. Reo St., Tampa

PRICE: $8.01 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $2.76 million, May 1995

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Philadelphia private-equity real-estate investment fund Rubenstein Properties Fund purchased five two-story office buildings on North Reo Street for $8.01 million. The company acquired the 100,000-square-foot complex as an investment, according to Michael O'Callaghan, vice president of Rubenstein Partners, which manages the fund.

"We just think it's a great market there and we're excited to see how things continue to shake out out there," O'Callaghan says. "We're continuing to look at opportunities all up and down the East Coast."

O'Callaghan declined to comment on whether or not the fund was planning to redevelop the nine-acre site.

In May, Rubenstein Partners closed Rubenstein Properties Fund with $475 million in committed equity.

Investment group buys, repositions Buccaneer Plaza

BUYER: P2F Fund LLC (principal: Jeff Pocklington), Orlando

SELLER: Oak Bend Mobile Home Park Inc.

PROPERTY: 6661 49th St. N., Pinellas Park

PRICE: $2.51 million

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: A private investment group, headed by Jeff Pocklington, a Realtor with GVA Advantis in Orlando, purchased the 22,000-square-foot Buccaneer Plaza strip center for $2.51 million. At the time of the sale, the center was 90% occupied, according to Pocklington, but that occupancy will likely decline intentionally as the new ownership repositions the center.

"We're going to rehab it and re-tenant," Pocklington says. "We're going to redo the entire exterior to bring it from the '70s back to 2000.That area is just really ready for improvement. A lot of Pinellas Park is already on its way back up. We're looking for tenants that are more well-known and that have more locations."

The new owners also expect to renovate about 40% of the interior of center.

Private investment groups headed by Pocklington have already redeveloped three other shopping centers in Jacksonville and Orlando.

P2F Fund LLC mortgaged the strip center to First State Bank for 2.55 million.

Pulte Homes breaks ground for largest new community

Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based builder/developer Pulte Homes has started site work on Wiregrass, an 8,000-home, 5,000-acre master-planned community in Wesley Chapel, in southeastern Pasco County. The development, on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard north of State Road 56, is being called the Tampa Bay's largest new community.

Residential construction is schedule to start next summer. The development, which will includes more than 1,000 acres of open space, will feature villages by each of the Pulte Homes' affiliated companies including Del Webb and DiVosta.

The development will house three clubhouses, an 18-hole golf course and a 1.6 million-square-foot lifestyle center with retail, restaurants and office space. The community will also include middle, high and elementary schools and a 100-bed hospital with associated medical offices and labs.

Etc...

• Pulte Homes has started land development at West Preserve, a gated community of 196 townhomes in the Westchase area of Tampa. The 33-acre community is on Linebaugh Avenue just east of Veterans Expressway. Homes will range from 1,159 to 1,715 square feet.

• Pulte Homes has begun land development in the first phase of an 843-home, 440-acre community near Hays Road in northern Pasco County. Homes will range from 1,523 to 3,943 square feet. Amenities include a 6,500-square-foot clubhouse and a 46-acre community lake.

• Morgan and Morgan Law Firm PA leased 32,000 square feet of office space in Tampa City Center, 201 N. Franklin St. from Tampa City Center Associates. Stevens Tombrink and Mia Jarrell of Grubb & Ellis/Commercial Florida represented the tenant.