Wheelock Street Capital, buys land, Ronto planning Goodlette Road development

BUYER: WSR Old Naples LLC, Boston
SELLER: BRP Asset Management LLC
PROPERTY: 100, 200 and 300 Goodlette Road S. and 1190 First Ave. S., Naples
PRICE: $21.5 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $25 million, March 2005; $1.5 million, January 2005; and $1.1 million, November 2004
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Trenam Kemker, Tampa

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Greenwich, Conn.-based private real estate investment firm Wheelock Street Capital purchased a 19.15-acre parcel at the northwest corner of Goodlette-Frank Road and Fifth Avenue South for $21.5 million.

The price equated to $1.12 million per acre.

In 2005, the property was approved for development of a mixed-use project called Renaissance Village, with 300 residential units and 205,000 square feet of commercial space. The project, which would have included a 1.9-acre adjacent site owned by Florida Gulf Coast University, never materialized because of the recession and real estate market collapse. In November, Regions Bank foreclosed on most of the property.

The Ronto Group of Naples will serve as Wheelock's local development partner.

“We understand how important development of this land is as an economic catalyst for the city and as a vital part of its Community Redevelopment Area,” Wheelock principal Jonathan Paul says in a press release. “We intend to spend the next several months carefully evaluating the best combination of high-quality residential, commercial and mixed uses that meet market demand and contribute to a prosperous, viable downtown.”

Anthony Solomon, executive vice president of The Ronto Group, says the firm plans to focus on linking the development to the surrounding area, promoting pedestrian traffic, and reinforcing the role of downtown as a community center and meeting place.

Ronto has completed more than 10,000 multifamily units, 2,000 single-family home sites, several shopping plazas and a hotel. Southwest Florida projects have included Hideaway Beach, TwinEagles, Forest Glen and The Shores at Gulf Harbour.

Wheelock has been an active investor in the residential and hospitality sectors during the last three years. The firm has closed on land approved for more than 19,000 residential units and is actively developing master-planned communities in the Sunbelt. In November, Wheelock purchased the assets of Atlanta-based John Wieland Homes in joint venture with the Wieland family and is now actively building homes in the southeastern United States. Wheelock has also acquired 22 hotel properties containing 4,580 rooms across the country, and owns 1,828 apartments and student housing units across five properties.

Jonathan Paul and Rick Kleeman formed Wheelock in 2008.