Veterinary Neuro Services buys office

BUYER: VNS Property Co. LLC (principal: Anne Chauvet), Sarasota

SELLER: E.F. and Susan Thomas

PROPERTY: 4937 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota

PRICE: $975,000

PREVIOUS PRICE: $95,000, March 1985

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Icard Merrill Cullis Timm, Furen & Ginsburg PA, Lakewood Ranch

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Dr. Anne Chauvet, a veterinarian, purchased the 6,712-square-foot former River Forest Animal Hospital for $975,000.

The price equated to $145 per square foot.

Chauvet, the founder of Veterinary Neuro Services, plans to relocate her practice to the building from a 3,000-square-foot unit. The building, on Tamiami Trail north of Phillippi Street, will be renovated and is expected to open in mid-June.

“They were a general practice clinic [and] we need a bigger operating room and not as many kennels,” says Chauvet, who was named an entrepreneur to watch in the Review's 2009 Entrepreneur of the Year issue. “Our operating room has a human-grade operating microscope so that takes-up a lot of space. We also need a bigger ICU.”

Chauvet now plans to hire another specialist for the clinic and also seeks additional employees to provide night services.

Susan Goldstein of Michael Saunders & Co. handled the sale of the Tamiami Trail building. Goldstein will also list the practice's former home, on Clark Road, for lease.

The purchase entity VNS Property Co. LLC mortgaged the property to 1st Manatee Bank for two mortgages totaling $1.04 million.