Rare Hospitality buys Toys'R'Us for future LongHorn Steakhouse

BUYER: Rare Hospitality Management Inc. (principals: William White III, Joseph Kern and Colleen Hunter), Orlando
SELLER: Tru 2005 RE I LLC
PROPERTY: 1381 Tamiami Trail, Port Charlotte
PRICE: $3.5 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $2.71 million, January 1990

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Rare Hospitality Management Inc., a Darden Restaurants Inc. subsidiary, purchased a 45,515-square-foot Toys”R”Us store for $3.5 million.

The price equated to $77 per square foot. That figure is lower than the two-year average price per square foot for retail space ($140) in Southwest Florida, according to the CoStar Group.

The new owner plans to redevelop the 4.4-acre site into a new LongHorn Steakhouse restaurant. The restaurant company is still assembling its development plans, but hopes to create a 6,400-square-foot building that can seat 240 people.

Erica (Jaeger) Ettori, communications and public relations manager for Darden Restaurants, says the property was attractive because of its proximity to other retail and residential neighborhoods as well as traffic patterns on Tamiami Trail.

LongHorn Steakhouse has 445 restaurants in 38 states. New LongHorn restaurants typically require between 80 and 100 people.