Whole Foods building in Sarasota sold for $19M

SARASOTA — Daytona Beach-based Consolidated-Tomoka Land Co. acquired the 59,000 square-foot Whole Foods Market Centre in downtown Sarasota for $19.1 million.

The price equated to $324 per square foot and the transaction is expected to be part of a 1031 tax deferred exchange, according to a press release. The purchase price is more than double the two-year average price per square foot for retail space ($138) in the Tampa Bay area, which includes Sarasota, according to the CoStar Group. Consolidated-Tomoka hired Casto Southeast Realty Services, the original developer, to continue to manage and lease the property, near Main Street.

The anchor of the prominent retail center is a 36,000-square-foot Whole Foods. The remaining 23,000 square feet includes a Starbucks and a parking garage. The property is 98% occupied.

The Whole Foods Market portion of the property is under a long-term lease, with about 10 years left, according to the release. The remaining lease term for the balance of the retail space is less than three years. Consolidated-Tomoka Land President and CEO John Albright, in the release, says the shorter terms there will provide the firm an opportunity to improve its return as downtown Sarasota continues to grow.

Consolidated-Tomoka Land owns a portfolio of income properties and loan investments across the United States and more than 10,500 acres in the Daytona Beach area. The Whole Foods Market Centre purchase was the publicly traded real estate company's largest acquisition ever. It brings its total investments year-to-date to about $70 million.