San Antonio investor buys Norris Furniture building

BUYER: Globalvest Investments Group LLC

SELLER: LNR Partners

PROPERTY: 5015 Tamiami Trail N., Naples

PRICE: $3.5 million

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Globalvest Investments Group LLC purchased the 45,824-square-foot former Norris Furniture and Interiors retail building on Tamiami Trail for $3.5 million. The price equated to $76 per square foot. The buyer, a San Antonio, Texas, investor, acquired the building as part of an agreement for Larry Norris to lease it.

Norris, who sold Norris Furniture and Interiors to Hendricks Furniture in 1998, has since come out of retirement and reentered the furniture business with Norris Home Furnishings. Norris, who opened his first store for the new company at 14125 S Tamiami Trail, Fort Myers in January, took the bankruptcy and closing of Robb & Stucky as a sign to expand.

“I was saddened to see Robb and Stucky go out of business,” Norris says. “It left 770 employees out of work. It was a huge black mark for our industry, and a lot of customers lost deposits. But it creates one heck of an opportunity for me. Robb & Stucky had a lot of lines as exclusives and we have those now. We are also hiring a lot of their experienced people.”

Norris hopes to have the Naples store open by the end of August. As for why he choose to lease rather than purchase the Naples store, Norris says he feels his dollars are better spent on inventory and other startup costs.

Larry Foster and Mike Concilla of CB Richard Ellis represented the seller and David Stevens of Investment Properties Corp. represented the buyer.