Fifth Third Bank buys office building

BUYER: Fifth Third Bank, Cincinnati, Ohio

SELLER: Eagle Tamiami Partners LLC

PROPERTY: 4902 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota

PRICE: $1.65 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $425,000, July 1998

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Broad and Cassel, Boca Raton

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Fifth Third Bank purchased a 2,530-square-foot office building adjacent to The Landings shopping center for $1.65 million.

The price equated to $652 per square foot.

The building, which previously housed a State Farm Insurance office and a SouthTrust Bank branch, was vacant at the time of the sale.

Fifth Third plans to renovate the building for a future branch it hopes to open by October or November.

“We see that area as a service gap for us in the Sarasota-Bradenton area,” says Tim Mackay, the bank's retail executive for South Florida. “We liked the location, and it certainly met our traffic-count criteria.”

Mackay says the renovations will be primarily cosmetic, and the building was in good condition.

Fifth Third currently operates 17 branches in the Sarasota-Bradenton area. The bank hopes to have 18-20 centers just in Sarasota County over the next three to five years, Mackay says.