Vacant Shoppes at North Port sell for $1.45 million

BUYER: Freedom Holdings Manatee LLC (principal: Eric Howell), Bradenton

SELLER: Quality Properties Asset Management Co.

PROPERTY: 1080, 1073 and 1183 W. Price Blvd., North Port

PRICE: $1.45 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $3.8 million, December 2005

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Stoneburner Berry Glocker Purcell & Greenhut PA, Jacksonville

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Freedom Holdings Manatee LLC, a Bradenton-based investment group, purchased the 15,470-square-foot Shoppes at North Port and two vacant outparcel lots for $1.45 million.

The price equated to $94 per square foot for the existing retail space.

The 3-year-old center was just 10% occupied at the time it was sold. Its tenants include PostNet and Little Caesars Pizza. The center wraps around an existing Walgreens building and is adjacent to the Publix-anchored Shoppes at Price Crossing.

Charles Parker of Hembree & Associates Inc. represented the buyer and Joe Hembree of Hembree & Associates Inc. represented the seller, an affiliate of Bank of America.

“We bought it for investment purposes,” says Eric Howell, president of Sarasota's Lancaster Realty Inc. and managing member of the investment group. “When it was bank-owned it hamstrings the ability to lease it up. We'll just be giving it a little more of a local touch. It's a well-built, well-located shopping center.”