Watermark buildings sell for $3.75 million

BUYER: Watermark Acquisition Group LLC (principals: Kiran Patel), Clearwater

SELLER: Marketview Properties III LLC

PROPERTY: 5420 Bay Center Drive and 5415 W. Mariner St., Tampa

PRICE: $3.75 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $7 million, October 2007

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Hill Ward & Henderson PA, Tampa

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: An investment group led by Tampa physician Dr. Kiran Patel purchased the prominent office buildings Watermark 5 and Watermark 7 for $3.75 million. The price equated to $70 per square foot.

Watermark 5 is a 24,735-square-foot building on Mariner Street and Watermark 7 is 29,132 square feet on Bay Center Drive. The buildings were 40% occupied at the time of the sale.

Patrick Mcguire and Frank Ryon of Redstone Asset Management Services LLC represented the seller, Marketview Properties III LLC, and Elliott Ross of The Ross Realty Group Inc. represented the buyer. The Ross Realty Group has also been hired by the new owner to provide leasing and property management services for the buildings.

“The buyer's company will be taking 15,000 square feet, the entire second floor of Watermark 7,” Ross says. “They hope to move in in 60 days. There's no major deferred maintenance or anything. It's exterior just needs some TLC and irrigation work. It really just needs some pride of ownership put into it.”

Ross says the Westshore market is recovering better than the rest of the region, and he hopes to lease the buildings this year.