Salem's Gyros & Subs buys Dunkin' Donuts building

BUYER: SP Manatee Ave LLC (principal: Salem Gharsalli), Spring Hill

SELLER: Community Bank of Manatee

PROPERTY: 5605 W. Manatee Ave., Bradenton

PRICE: $890,000

PREVIOUS PRICE: $300,000, October 1998

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Ryan Snyder Esq., Bradenton

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Salem's Gyros & Subs Restaurants purchased a 2,176-square-foot former Dunkin' Donuts for $890,000.

The price equated to $409 per square foot.

The owners, Salem Gharsalli and his Bradenton-based business partner, Kane Gonzalez, plan to extensively renovate the building for use as its second Salem's Gyros & Subs in Bradenton. The chain's first location in Bradenton opened earlier this year in a former Dunkin' Donuts building on U.S. 41.

Gharsalli says he budgeted $500,000 for building improvements to the property he bought in west Bradenton. He expects the renovations to take six months.

“That property was such a great deal,” Gharsalli says. “It's on the way to Anna Maria Island. You couldn't buy the land and build the building there for what we paid for it. People say the economy is bad, but building prices are down, interest rates and construction costs are low [and] labor is available.”

The quick-service restaurant chain currently operates nine locations. It also plans to open a tenth store in Auburndale.

The seller, Community Bank of Manatee, foreclosed on the building's previous owner in July. The ownership entity, SP Manatee Ave LLC, mortgaged the building back to Community Bank of Manatee for $1.08 million.

Stan Rutstein of Re/Max Alliance Group Inc. handled the transaction.