Beach Club owner buys Main Street buildings

BUYER: Big Main Street LLC, Osprey
SELLER: MFC Co. Inc.
PROPERTY: 1718 Main St., Sarasota
PRICE: $2 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $3.2 million, March 2000

BUYER: Little Main Street LLC, Osprey
SELLER: MFC Co. Inc.
PROPERTY: 1734 Main St., Sarasota
PRICE: $800,000
PREVIOUS PRICE: $165,000, March 2000

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Williams Parker Harrison Dietz & Getzen, Sarasota

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Local business owner Chris Brown purchased two Main Street office buildings for $2.8 million.

The price equated to $102 per leasable square foot.

IberiaBank anchors the larger, 23,039-square-foot, three-story building. It is 56% vacant and currently houses among others, Lumpkin & Haskins PA, iSystems, NAI Manasota and Blackpoint Realty.

The smaller, 4,422-square-foot building is fully leased to Atchley International Realty and Inspirations Salon & Day Spa.

The two buildings were previously owned by MFC Co. Inc., an affiliate of Northern Trust Bank, which took title to the buildings from Joseph Costello Sr. in August.

“I certainly believe it has upside potential,” Brown says. “Part of the reason I bought it was the price per square foot. The two buildings are really in very good condition. The roofs were both replaced the last couple of years and one was replaced in the last six months. The aesthetics of the buildings have really been kept up nicely. The only thing I anticipate doing is adding LED lighting to make it even more attractive to prospective tenants.”

Brown says he felt the 1-acre site, which has 110 private parking spaces, offered an attractive investment as a potential redevelopment site sometime in the future. Costello previously proposed a 15-story development on the site, however the approved variance has since expired.

Ashley Bloom and J. Chris Malkin of the statewide office of Sperry Van Ness Florida Commercial Real Estate Advisors handled the transaction.

The new owner has hired the two agents to continue to manage and market the buildings for lease.

Brown is best known as the owner of The Beach Club, The Hub Baja-Grill and The Cottage restaurant on Siesta Key.