Love A Child moves HQ to Commerce Lakes Drive

BUYER: Love A Child Holding LLC (principals: Robert and Sharyn Burnette, Mark and Evie Ostrander and Sandra Smith), Riverview

SELLER: First Bank

PROPERTY: 12411 Commerce Lakes Drive, Fort Myers

PRICE: $2.4 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $2.01 million, August 2008

LAW FIRM ON DEED: A Douglas Grace Jr. PA, Fort Myers

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Riverview-based non-profit Love A Child Inc. purchased a 25,172-square-foot flex building in Fort Myers for $2.4 million.

The price equated to $95 per square foot.

The Christian non-profit, which provides aid and humanitarian programs to Haitians, was originally based in Naples. It has been searching for a location in Fort Myers since 2002, says Rad Hazelip, the group's assistant executive director.

“Events eventually came together to lead us back to the Fort Myers area,” he says. “The support base here is as dense as anywhere in the country. There's also a good robust workforce.”

The building is currently 40% office space, but the charity plans to eventually convert another 30% of the warehouse space to office, according to Hazelip. Once that additional space is converted, the building will still offer the group 10,000 square feet of warehouse up from just 2,000 square feet in its existing Riverview facility.

Tom Woodyard of Woodyard & Associates represented the seller in and Bob White of Grubb & Ellis/1st Commercial represented the buyer.

Love A Child mortgaged the property to Regions Bank for $1.7 million.