Darden Restaurants buys land for new town center Olive Garden

BUYER: Florida SE Inc. (principals: William White, Joseph Kern and Colleen Hunter), Orlando

SELLER: Lee County Real Estate Holdings LLC

PROPERTY: 10020 University Plaza Drive, Fort Myers

PRICE: $1.4 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $6.25 million, January 2009 (includes 11 other parcels)

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Douglas R. Krause Esq., Cleveland, Ohio

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Orlando-based restaurant group Darden Restaurants Inc. purchased 1.99 acres of vacant commercial land on Alico Road near Gulf Coast Town Center for $1.4 million.

The price equated to $703,518 per acre.

The new ownership has hired Haley Construction Inc. of Daytona and started some initial work on the site to develop a new Olive Garden restaurant. The new restaurant, known as Olive Garden #1895, is scheduled to open in late April.

The restaurant group already operates four Olive Gardens, located in Estero, Cape Coral, Fort Myers and Naples.

John Mounce of LandQwest Commercial represented the buyer.

Darden Restaurants is the world's largest full-service restaurant company; it owns and operates more than 1,900 restaurants. Its restaurant brands include Red Lobster, Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, The Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze and Seasons 52.