Eaton Corp. sells manufacturing building, business line to Safran

BUYER: Labinal LLC (principals: Alain Sauret, Jorge Ortega, Mark Melnick and Marc Pelle), Denton, Texas
SELLER: Eaton Aerospace LLC
PROPERTY: 2250 Whitfield Ave., Sarasota
PRICE: $4.15 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $3.71 million, June 2000
LAW FIRM ON DEED: McDonald Hopkins LLC, West Palm Beach

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:
French aerospace and defense technology company Safran purchased a 134,221-square-foot manufacturing building from Eaton Corp. for $4.15 million.

The price equated to $31 per square foot. That figure is lower than the two-year average price per square foot for industrial space ($114) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

The 36-acre property was sold in time with Safran's purchase of Eaton's aerospace power distribution management solutions and integrated cockpit solutions businesses for $270 million.

The building was originally constructed in 1978.

Those two business lines employ 350 people at manufacturing facilities in Sarasota and Costa Mesa, Calif., and generated $102 million in sales in 2013.

Safran has 66,300 employees and generated sales of 14.7 billion euros in 2013.