Investor group Ft. Royale LLC buys Via Royale Corporate Center

BUYER: Ft. Royale LLC (principal: Michael Peterman), Fort Myers

SELLER: 4575 Via Royale Holdings LLC

PROPERTY: 4575 Via Royale, Fort Myers

PRICE: $950,000

PREVIOUS PRICE: $3.45 million, February 2006

LAW FIRM ON DEED: National Commercial Services, Washington, D.C.

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: An investment group headed by Michael Peterman of Fort Myers purchased the 26,146-square-foot Via Royale Corporate Center office building for $950,000.

The price equated to $36 per square foot.

The two-story building was previously owned by an affiliate of Bethesda, Md.-based U.S. Bank NA, serving as trustee of a Merrill Lynch mortgage trust. The U.S. Bank affiliate took title to the property in a foreclosure in February 2011 after the former owner defaulted on a $2.84 million loan.

The building was 50% occupied at the time of the sale. Its most prominent tenant is the American Cancer Society.

Tim Colen of One Source Commercial Realty LLC handled the transaction.

“The new owner felt it was the right price and that the building was in very good shape,” Colen says. “They thought it was a good investment. They're planning to redo the aesthetics, things like the landscaping and painting.”

Colen, who has also been hired to market the property, is listing the vacant rental space for $12 a square foot modified gross.

Peterman is the managing member of The Cambridge Building LLC, an investment group that owns a 9,600-square-foot office building at 7680 Cambridge Manor Place, Fort Myers.