Boca Raton's Carls Patio buys Robb & Stucky building

BUYER: 14380 South Tamiami Trail LLC (WBG Funds LLC), Boca Raton

SELLER: GE Commercial Finance Business Property Corp.

PROPERTY: 14380 S. Tamiami Trail, Fort Myers

PRICE: $1.44 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $2.22 million, March 2006

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Kutak Rock LLP, Omaha, Neb.

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Boca Raton-based Carls Patio purchased the 12,235-square-foot former Robb & Stucky Patio building for $1.44 million.

The price equated to $118 per square foot.

Gary Ecoff, president and founder of Carls Patio, says the company is continuing to execute on expansion plans it started in 2008.

“The truth is the economic conditions haven't affected us as much as a lot of other companies in our category, and it has presented a significant number of opportunities that we have been dying to take advantage of,” he says.

The company took its first steps into Fort Myers with an 8,500-square-foot building — smaller than its typical footprint — in 2008.

“We wanted to test the market,” Ecoff says. “We found that even with the smaller footprint we were able to do a much higher sale per square-foot than we had expected.”

The building's new owner is currently in the process of remodeling it. The store is scheduled to open in late October or early November.

Carls Patio plans to sell its existing Fort Myers store, a location Ecoff says has improved because of changes to Alico Road.

The purchase entity 14380 South Tamiami Trail LLC mortgaged the property to Encore National Bank for $1.15 million.

The retailer now has stores in Boca Raton, Coconut Creek, Kendall, Naples, North Palm Beach, Miami, Pompano, Stuart, Fort Myers, North Miami Beach and Sarasota.