Pinellas Preparatory Academy buys its building in Largo

BUYER: Pinellas Preparatory Academy Inc. (principals: Mario Biagini, Addie Romanowski, George Brydon, Martin Peters, Michael Schulz and Tammy Babitzke), Largo

SELLER: Largo Commerce Ltd.

PROPERTY: 2300 Belcher Road S., Largo

PRICE: $5.38 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $1.4 million, December 1999

LAW FIRM ON DEED: D2 Law Group PL, Tampa

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: The Pinellas Preparatory Academy purchased a 67,000-square-foot industrial building for $5.38 million.

The price equated to $80 per square foot.

Pinellas Preparatory Academy has been a tenant in half of the building for the past four years.

Pat Marzulli of Colliers International Tampa Bay represented the buyer.

“They bought it to expand and open up another charter school for grades K-4 there,” Marzulli says. “The balance of the building was being used for storage.”

The public charter school is renovating the added 32,000-square-foot space with the goal of having it ready for the next school year.

“We decided to take the opportunity to buy it and lower our occupancy costs and expand at the same time,” says Curtis Fuller, superintendent of the charter school.

Pinellas Preparatory Academy mortgaged the property to PNC Bank for $6.2 million.