Tampa's Aileron Holdings buys land for Liberty Health Park

BUYER: Liberty Health Park LLC (principal: Robert Beard), Tampa
SELLER: Pine Island 32 LLC
PROPERTY: a portion of North East Pine Island Road and Northeast 24th Avenue, Cape Coral
PRICE: $5.52 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $2.92 million, September 2004
LAW FIRM ON DEED: The Hayes Law Group PA, St. Petersburg

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Aileron Holdings purchased 31.7 acres at the northeast corner of Pine Island Road and Northeast 24th Avenue for $5.52 million.

The price equated to $174,174 per acre. That figure is lower than the two-year average price per acre for office land ($935,216) in Southwest Florida, according to the CoStar Group.

The new owner plans to develop it into Liberty Health Park, a mixed-use development of senior housing, retail and medical office space. In the first phase of the project, Aileron Holdings plans to create 120 to 160 senior housing units split between assisted and independent living and memory care. The commercial space is currently in flux, while the plans and approvals are finalized for the senior-housing portion.

“Within Cape Coral there are very, very few senior-housing facilites,” says Joe Bonora, co-founder and managing director of Aileron Capital Management. “All of the facilites have an occupancy of 94% or better. Within five miles there really aren't any except for maybe a few small 15- to 20-bed [facilites]. We also have the proximity to the hospital and the VA clinic.”

The developer hopes to break ground in the first quarter.

Tampa's Aileron Holdings, which manages investment funds through Aileron Capital Management LLC, has been doing smaller scale apartment, assisted-living and townhome developments in Florida and California. Last month, the firm purchased land and announced it would develop a four-building condominium, called Plaza Del Sol, at the corner of Gladiolus Drive and McGregor Boulevard in Fort Myers.

Aileron Holdings financed the entire purchase price with the former Pine Island 32 LLC.