Dental Care Alliance buys new headquarters

BUYER: Triangle DDS (Lakewood Ranch) LLC (principals: David Nichols, Steven Matzkin and Mitchell Olan), Sarasota

SELLER: CRM Florida Properties LLC

PROPERTY: 6240 Lake Osprey Drive, Sarasota

PRICE: $1.7 million

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Shumaker Loop & Kendrick LLP, Sarasota

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Sarasota-based Dental Care Alliance purchased the 13,689-square-foot Bell Tower Plaza office building for $1.7 million.

The purchase included an adjacent acre, which could be used for development. The price equated to $124 per square foot of building space.

Dental Care Alliance has occupied the top two floors of the Kane Plaza in downtown Sarasota for the past decade. The Bell Tower Plaza is just east of the University Parkway exit of Interstate 75, near Lakewood Ranch.

“We knew we needed to add more space,” says David Nichols, Dental Care Alliance's chief financial officer. “This presented the opportunity to also get involved in real estate. If we weren't in downtown, we wanted to be out by the interstate. It met our immediate needs with room to grow.”

Dental Care Alliance, a dental practice management firm, plans to extensively renovate the interior of the building. It was designed and built by Pruett Builders Inc. and Pruett Homes Inc. in 2006. SunTrust Bank foreclosed on the property in June 2009.

Steve Horn with Ian Black Real Estate represented the seller and Lily Behrends with Wagner Realty represented the buyer.

Dental Care Alliance mortgaged the property to SunTrust Bank for $1.36 million.