Centre Shops of Longboat Key sells for nearly $4 million

BUYER: FH Centre Shoppes LLC (manager: Eric Howell), Sarasota
SELLER: Centre Shops of L.K. Ltd.
PROPERTY: 5340, 5350, 5360, 5370, 5380 and 5390 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key
PRICE: $3.7 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $2.8 million, January 1998
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Greene Hamrick Quinlan & Schermer PA, Bradenton

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:
A company led by Eric Howell, president of Bradenton-based Lancaster Realty Inc., purchased the 37,880-square-foot Centre Shops of Longboat Key for $3.7 million.

The price equated to $98 per square foot. That figure is lower than the two-year average price per square foot for retail space ($138) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

The 28-year-old neighborhood retail center is roughly 85% occupied and includes three restaurants, a bank, clothing and gift shops, office space, the Education Center and the Longboat Key Chamber of Commerce.

Earl Fossum, vice president of ICORR Properties International, which will manage the Centre Shops, says parking lot repairs will be the first priority of the new owner.

“We're hoping to get on the parking lot in January,” Fossum told the Longboat Observer. “The way the lot is laid out, we're able to section it and not cut it off to traffic.”

After peak season, the property will get a more extensive makeover, including new roofs and soffit and fascia, plus repainting.

James Medefind, a senior associate in Marcus & Millichap's Tampa office, handled the sale.

The purchase entity, FH Centre Shoppes LLC, mortgaged the property to Englewood Bank & Trust for $3 million.

— additional reporting by Robin Hartill, correspondent