Sarasota's PPi Technologies to relocate to larger building

BUYER: Smartresource LLC (principals: C. Stuart Murray and Sandra-Leigh Christensen), Sarasota
SELLER: Systemair MFG Inc.
PROPERTY: 1712 Northgate Blvd., Sarasota
PRICE: $3.75 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $205,000, April 1989
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Najmy Thompson PL, Bradenton

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: An affiliate of PPi Technologies purchased the 81,612-square-foot former System Air industrial building for $3.75 million.

The price equated to $46 per square foot. That figure is the same as the two-year average price per square foot for industrial space ($46) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

PPi Technologies plans renovate the U-shaped building to serve as its new manufacturing plant. The company plans to spend $700,000 to renovate one side of the building for its Redi-2-DrinQ division, which produces pouched beverages, including alcohol. In addition, it will be spending another $500,000 on the other side of the building for the machinery manufacturing side of the business, called PPiTech Global Sales. The middle the building will be used for storage.

“That building will be the largest contract packaging center for alcohol in the United States,” says company CEO R. Charles Murray. “It will be capable of producing 1 billion [beverage] pouch units a year.”

PPi Technologies plans to ramp up to that level over the next five years. Even so, initially it will be doubling its production level from its current facility, which can produce 120 million pouches.

Murray expects to hire 15 new people once the company is in new the location in December.

Aesthetic Finishers Inc. is the contractor for the improvements, and the architect is Tampa's FleischmanGarcia Architecture.

Jon Kleiber and Terry Eastman handled the transaction under the Real Estate Office of James Buchanan Realty, but are now with Coldwell Banker Commercial NRT. The duo will be listing PPi Technologies' 19,800-square-foot current building at 1610 Northgate Blvd., Sarasota for sale.

Purchase entity Smartresource LLC mortgaged the property to Branch Banking and Trust Co. for $3.43 million.