FL Banyan Trail buys, rents Savannah Trace

BUYER: FL Banyan Trail LLC, Sarasota
SELLER: 21 Century Savannah LLC
PROPERTY: 4049 and 4053 Maceachen Blvd., Sarasota
PRICE: $3.61 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $8.2 million, May 2006
LAW FIRM ON DEED: David H. Rosenberg Esq., Sarasota
PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Sarasota businessmen Fred Cochran and Larry Starr purchased the 82-unit former Savannah Trace apartments on Maceachen Boulevard south of Bee Ridge Road and east of South Beneva Road for $3.61 million. The purchase price equates to an average of $44,000 per unit. The previous owner unsuccessfully attempted to convert the apartment complex to condominiums. The new owners will rent out the complex as the Banyan Trail Apartments.

“We're planning to complete some of the exterior things the previous owner planned but didn't complete,” Cochran says. 'We'll be putting in a fire pit and redoing the landscaping ... mainly just curb appeal things. The previous owner already did a lot of things; he spent $800,000 fixing it up.”

Cochran says the former owner's purchase price of $8.2 million only made sense if the complex's units could be sold as condominiums for roughly $150,000 each.

The new purchase price equated to a capitalization rate of 8%. The majority, 82% of the complex, is already occupied.

The owners plan to market the two-bedroom units for $750 a month.