Investor Sharon Carole buys Ceviche building

BUYER: Ataraxia LLC (authorized member: Sharon Carole), Nokomis
SELLER: BFM Enterprises Inc.
PROPERTY: 1216 First St., Sarasota
PRICE: $2.1 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $1.4 million, April 2004
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Berlin Patten PLLC, Sarasota

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:
A company led by Sharon Carole purchased the 12,220-square-foot former Ceviche Tapas Bar & Restaurant building in downtown Sarasota for $2.1 million.

The price equated to $172 per square foot. That figure is higher than the two-year average price per square foot for retail space ($138) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

The three-story historic building, designed by Dwight James Baum, originally housed Sarasota's first newspaper, The Sarasota Times. D.E. Murphy Constructors owner Donald Murphy purchased the 88-year-old building in 2004 and extensively renovated it.

The building was unoccupied at the time of the sale.

Rob Wilhoit of SaraBay Real Estate Inc. represented the seller and Abe Uccello of ERA Waterside Realty represented the buyer.

“The buyer is in the restaurant business and we've heard [it] will be opening up a nightclub on third and fourth floor and will lease out the first and second floors to a restaurant,” Wilhoit says. “Basically the same thing Ceviche was doing.”