Dallas investment firm buys Fruitville Staples land

BUYER: Freedom Sarasota LLC (Freedom REIT LLC), Dallas
SELLER: Theatre Associates II LLLP
PROPERTY: 1900 Fruitville Road, Sarasota
PRICE: $3.9 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $350,000, September 1997
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Williams Parker Harrison Dietz & Getzen, Sarasota

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Freedom Sarasota LLC, a purchase entity affiliated with Dallas-based investment firm Highland Capital Management LP purchased 1.2 acres on Fruitville Road for $3.9 million.

The price equated to $3.25 million per acre.

The property is home to a Staples retail store. Ruben Holland Development redeveloped a parking lot into the new Staples building and later a 5,000-square-foot Bank of America branch building.

The developer sold off the 1.25-acre land housing the bank branch building earlier this year to a company led by Benjamin Nickoll of Washington Depot, Conn., for $4.45 million.

Highland Capital Management is an SEC-registered investment adviser, which, with affiliates, has $18 billion in assets under management.