St. Petersburg's Edwards buys troubled BayWalk

BUYER: Loan Ranger Acquisitions LLC '¨(principal: William Edwards), St. Petersburg

SELLER: 153 2nd Avenue North Holdings LLC

PROPERTY: 153 Second Avenue N., St. Petersburg

PRICE: $5.2 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $1.45 million, September 1999

LAW FIRM ON DEED: K&L Gates LLP, Dallas

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: St. Petersburg mortgage executive, music mogul and real estate owner/investor Bill Edwards purchased the struggling BayWalk development for $5.2 million.

The price equated to $70 per square foot.

At the beginning of this year, only six tenants remained at the 74,500-square-foot complex. Anchored by a 20-screen Muvico Theater, the open-air plaza was built in 2000 for a reported $42 million. The BayWalk website lists the center as housing Chico's, EB Games (GameStop), Happy Feet Plus, hermanHOME, Icing by Claire's, Sunglass Hut International and White House | Black Market.

The city of St. Petersburg originally acquired the land for $8.3 million with plans to revitalize the downtown area. It eventually sold the property to Fred Bullard, who worked with the Sembler Co. to develop the center. He lost the complex in foreclosure to CWCapital Asset Management LLC.

“It's a great piece of property that was starting to become an eyesore,” Edwards says. “We wanted to make sure we got it before it got to that stage. We're working on changes to it now. A lot of people have been calling wanting to lease it. Right now we are just looking for the right mix.”

The new owner is also considering changing the property's name.

Edwards is chairman and CEO of independent music label Big3 Entertainment Group LLC and owns the concert promotion company Bill Edwards Presents Inc. Edwards also owns and operates hotels.