Naples' St. Matthew's House buys former DeVoe dealership site

BUYER: St. Matthew's House Inc. (principals: William Boyer, Mary Predmore, Harry Bowman, Sylvia Sinns and Jeffrey Engel), Naples

SELLER: DeVoe Family Limited Partnership

PROPERTY: 2075 and 2085 Airport Road S., Naples

PRICE: $2.1 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $715,600, January 1998

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Kathleen C. Passidomo PA, Naples

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: The Naples-based St. Matthew's House Inc. purchased the 2.76-acre former DeVoe Mega Center dealership site for $2.1 million.

The price equated to $760,870 per acre.

The land, which previously housed the demolished auto dealership, is adjacent to the St. Matthew's House.

The non-profit, which provides services to assist the homeless, plans to eventually use the property to expand its facilities.

“We looked at buying the property a couple years ago, but we didn't have the funds or the resources to purchase it,” says Rev. Vann Ellison, president and CEO of St. Matthew's House. “We recently had a donor contact us and offer to cover the entire purchase cost. We're trying to do a pro forma now to make sure whatever we developed there makes business sense.”