Investors buy Siesta Drive land planning home development

BUYER: Royal Bay LLC (principal: Keith Campbell), Bonita Springs
SELLER: Landstar Associates of Sarasota LLC fka The Dude's Ranch LLC
PROPERTY: 1711, 1721 and 1735 Siesta Drive and 1710, 1724 and 1732 Wisconsin Lane, Sarasota
PRICE: $1 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $800,000, July 2004; $675,000, October 2002; $300,000, May 2005; $213,000, February 2005; and $200,000, November 2002
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Berlin-Patten PLLC, Sarasota

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:Southwest Florida investors/developers Keith Campbell and Jeff Freitas purchased six vacant parcels north of Siesta Drive for $1 million.

The price equated to $659,408 per acre.

Campbell says the partners plan to develop and build 12 single-family homes on the 1.5-acre property.

“We've done this [home development] in the past, but we put our company on hold in 2006,” he says. “We've had this property under contract since the spring of 2010. It was a short sale so there were a lot of liens and issues to deal with just to unwind it.”

However, even with the uncertainty, the partners felt it was worth pursuing the parcels because of their location and price, according to Campbell. Because the partners were unsure the sale would go through, limited planning has been done on the site.

Freitas will act as the general contractor for the project. Construction is scheduled to start in the fall.