Citadel Apartments of Venice buys Sandpiper Apartments

BUYER: Citadel Apartments of Venice LLC, Venice

SELLER: Sandpiper Apartments LLC

PROPERTY: 125 E. Airport Ave., Venice

PRICE: $1.35 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $2.33 million, May 2003

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Williams Parker Harrison Dietz & Getzen, Sarasota

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Citadel Apartments of Venice LLC, an investor group, purchased the 52-unit Sandpiper Apartments for $1.35 million.

The price equated to $25,962 per unit.

Matthew Baldwin of CB Richard Ellis represented the receiver in the sale. Angelia Young of the A. Young Realty Group Inc. represented the buyer.

The previous owner renovated the exterior of the two-building apartment complex in anticipation of a condo conversion that never happened. The 1.57-acre property features a laundry facilities and pool. The property was vacant at the time of the sale.

“The new owner planned on redoing the units, and they felt it was easier with the property empty,” Baldwin says.

Thomas Creech with Citadel Apartments of Venice is the manager of the partnership. The ownership group hopes to renovate the inside and the outside of the complex and have it back on the market for rent in the next 100 days.

“This has been a problem child for the city of Venice,” Young says. “It was rundown. [The new owners] now plan to make it a center point. They liked the idea that it is 52 units within a mile of the beach. They saw where they could take it. Plus, at less than $26,000 a unit on the island of Venice, there is a lot of room there to make something really right.”