Two Meatballs in the Kitchen owners buy Sam Snead's for new restaurant concept

BUYER: Grampas LLC (principal: Salvatore Basile), Fort Myers
SELLER: CNL Bank
PROPERTY: 9520 Marketplace Road, Fort Myers
PRICE: $921,500
PREVIOUS PRICE: $1.13 million, January 2005
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Lightsey & Associates PA, Winter Park

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Salvatore Basile, his son Alex Basile and son-in-law Paul Torocco purchased a 8,209-square-foot former Sam Snead's restaurant building for $921,500.

The price equated to $112 per square foot. That figure is lower than the two-year average price per square foot for retail space ($140) in Southwest Florida, according to the CoStar Group.

The new owners plan to make mainly cosmetic changes to the 3-year-old building to rebrand it in a lodge-style new restaurant, Stampede 131. The name is a mixture of references to the owners' names combined with the exit number off Interstate 75. Alex Basile will handle the day-to-day operations of the new American-fusion restaurant.

The three owners are best known for their Two Meatballs in the Kitchen restaurant nearby at 8880 Salrose Lane, Fort Myers.

“Our other location, Two Meatballs in the Kitchen, is half a mile away so I've had my eye on it for awhile,” says Sal Basile. “We love the building, but it has been overpriced for a long time, and we just couldn't make those numbers make sense. Now, we can go one from location to the next in a minute.”

Jennifer Horne and Michael Frye of Re/Max Realty Group Commercial Division of Fort Myers represented the seller, CNL Bank, and Tom Pepitone of Pepitone Properties represented the buyer.

The new restaurant is scheduled to open later this month.

The purchase entity, Grampas LLC, mortgage the property to Central Bank for $691,000.