Venice Pines Shopping Center sells for $10.35 million

BUYER: Capital Growth of Venice LLC (principal: John Karlton), Greenwich, Conn.

SELLER: Weingarten Notstat Inc.

PROPERTY: 1168 Jacaranda Blvd., Venice

PRICE: $10.35 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $7.15 million, June 2001

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Weingarten Nostat Inc., Houston

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Greenwich, Conn.-based J.S. Karlton Co. Inc. purchased the 97,303-square-foot Venice Pine Shopping Center for $10.35 million.

The price equated to $106 per square foot.

The center, which is anchored by a Sweetbay Supermarket, was 80% occupied at the time of the sale. Built in 1990, the Venice center also houses Mamma Leone's Italian restaurant.

“There were a combination of quite a few [problems there],” says Anthony Newfield, head of acquisitions for J.S. Karlton. “The former owner was located in Texas and the center is located in Florida. The economy really took its toll, but it's ready to come back. There are a great bunch of tenants there, and we're looking to add another three to four to make it a really active community center.”

He says the property is in excellent physical shape and that the new ownership only has plans at the moment to reseal the property's roof.

J.S. Karlton will be retaining a third-party management firm for the property and has hired Terry Purdy of Merritt Realty Corp. as the leasing manager.

J.S. Karlton Co. Inc. is a 35-person private real estate investment and management company.

HFF Inc., led by Brad Peterson and Doug Hazelbaker, marketed the property on behalf of the seller, Weingarten Realty Investors.