Doctor group buys Manatee County land for expansion

LAKEWOOD RANCH -- Rangeland MOB LLC, led by family practitioner Dr. John Steel of Intercoastal Medical Group, purchased 2.9 acres at the northeast corner of Rangeland Parkway and Lakewood Ranch Boulevard for $1.85 million.

The price equated to $631,399 per acre. That figure is lower than the two-year average price per acre for office space, $1.18 million, in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

Fred M. Starling Inc. was hired as development manager/general contractor to construct a 25,000-square-foot, two-story medical office building with 160 parking spaces on the site. The building will feature physician offices, exam rooms, diagnostic and imaging equipment, labs and facilities for physical therapy.

Intercoastal Medical Group is scheduled to occupy the building in January. It will replace an 8,000-square-foot building it currently leases at 8340 Lakewood Ranch Blvd. Intercoastal has more than 65 physicians and seven locations in Sarasota and Manatee counties.

Fred Starling, president and CEO of the Starling Group, also negotiated the purchase of the site with the seller, an affiliate of Schroeder Manatee Ranch.
“[What was attractive about that site] was the exposure and visibility at that location and the amount of residential growth that's planned in that area over the next five to 10 years,” he says.

Rangeland MOB LLC mortgaged the property to The Northern Trust Co. for $4.4 million.