TerraCap Partners buys Emerson Village land

BUYER: Emerson Village LLC (principal: W. Stephen Hagenbuckle), Cape Coral

SELLER: Adrian Builders at Estero Ltd.

PROPERTY: west of Tamiami Trail between Hidden Gateway Boulevard and Emerson Square Boulevard, Fort Myers

PRICE: $1.7 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $2.38 million, June 2004

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Henry A. Lopez-Agular PA, Miami

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: New York City- and Cape Coral-based TerraCap Partners purchased 26.31 acres of vacant land north of Emerson Square Boulevard for $1.7 million.

The price equated to $64,614 per acre.

The property is approved for a multifamily development of 250 to 260 units called Emerson Village. The private-equity firm acquired the property as an investment, but the property may not sit vacant for long, according to W. Stephen Hagenbuckle, TerraCap Partners' general partner.

“Multifamily is really the hot [commercial real estate] space right now,” he says. “Occupancies are at national highs. Nationwide they're running in the low- to mid-90s. There's even more demand for rental units here. There isn't a lot of competing rental spaces in south Fort Myers.”

The land is near the intersection of Alico Road and U.S. 41 and the Centex Emerson Square residential community.