Biter buys Marcia Wood building, final piece for apartment development

BUYER: Biter Building LLC (Jesse M. Biter Revocable Trust), Sarasota
SELLER: CRA Holding LLC
PROPERTY: 1401 Second St., Sarasota
PRICE: $850,000
PREVIOUS PRICE: $327,000, March 2002
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Berlin-Patten PLLC

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Developer/entrepreneur Jesse Biter purchased the 5,484-square-foot Marcia Wood & Co. building at 1401 Second St., Sarasota for $850,000.

The price equated to $155 per square foot. That figure is greater than the two-year average price per square foot for office space ($115) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

The nearly quarter-acre property was the final of two downtown parcels needed for a planned 10-story, 180-unit apartment development. Biter purchased the adjacent 0.84-acre property, housing the 13,881-square-foot United Way Building, for $2.8 million in mid-2013.

Gary Hoyt, owner at Hoyt Architects, is currently developing the design for the project, says Steve Horn of Ian Black Real Estate, who represented Biter.

“Our hope is by maybe the third quarter to have activity on the site,” Horn says. “At this point everything that needs to be done [on the governmental side] is really at the administrative level. Everything is allowed under code. We have an existing site plan approval. We anticipate the demolitions will start when we're ready to develop the site.”

Biter's project stands to benefit from a city approval in 2007 that granted previous developer Leonard Garner a density bonus allowing up to 168 new residences at 1445 Second St. Twelve units can be built at 1401 Second St.

Horn is currently looking for tenants for the 23,000 square feet of ground-floor retail that he describes as a shadow center to Whole Foods.

The planned development will feature structured and ground-floor parking, a laundry chute, rooftop restaurant and a share-a-car community rental program.

The purchase entity, Biter Building LLC, mortgaged the property to CRA Holding LLC for $450,000.