Neal Communities buys DooleyMack building

BUYER: Harbor Sound LLC, Lakewood Ranch

SELLER: SunTrust Bank

PROPERTY: 5800 Lakewood Ranch Blvd., Sarasota

PRICE: $2.48 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $408,000, March 2003

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Hill Ward Henderson, Tampa

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: A Neal Communities Inc. affiliate purchased the 25,080-square-foot DooleyMack Constructors headquarters building for $2.48 million. The price equated to $99 per square foot.

The 8-year-old building occupies a 2.34-acre parcel in Lakewood Ranch Corporate Park.

The homebuilder, which currently occupies 8,600 square feet at 8210 Lakewood Ranch Blvd., plans to relocate to a larger portion in the building. Leisa Weintraub, a spokeswoman for Neal Communities, says the new building was needed because of the homebuilder's growth in both sales and employees. In the past nine months, the firm's staff has increased from 83 to 93. Neal Communities is scheduled to move in the first quarter.

“The new building makes sense because it is close to our current home so our employees won't have to relocate,” says President Pat Neal. “It's also in the center of the universe, Lakewood Ranch.”

DooleyMack Constructors Inc. and the University of South Florida Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation Program are expected to continue to lease space in the two-story building.

In July, Denham Acres Partnership, a company managed by Bill Dooley, transferred the building and property in lieu of foreclosure to SunTrust Bank.