Sarasota DeSears building becoming future Ashley HomeStore

BUYER: Kingswere Furniture LLC (Ashley Furniture Industries), Arcadia, Wis.
SELLER: Rodney Dessberg
PROPERTY: 1998 Fiesta Drive, Sarasota
PRICE: $4.4 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $3.14 million, December 2001
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Windeerweedle Haines Ward & Woodman PA, Winter Park

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:
Ashley Furniture Industries Inc. purchased a 47,329-square-foot DeSears Appliance, Furniture & Mattress store building for $4.4 million.

The price equated to $92 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 property is divided into two-thirds retail and showroom space with the final third made up of warehouse and storage space. The building also includes three loading docks.

Chuck Palmeri of Re/Max Alliance Group represented the seller.

“With frontage on U.S. 41, it was a great piece of property from a retail point of view,” Palmeri says. “They'll do whatever remodeling they need to put their look on it, but the building was in good shape. It had a large showroom; its interior was recently remodeled for appliance and furniture sales.”

Ashley Furniture Industries declined to comment on the new location, saying that each store is independently owned and operated. However, the company recently filed a notice of commencement for Malcolmson Construction Inc. of St. Petersburg to convert the property into an Ashley HomeStore.