Berlin Patten Ebling buys Leedom Building, Brightwork acquires development site

BUYER: 247 Tamiami Trail LLC (manager: Evan Berlin), Sarasota
SELLER: Leedom Management Group Inc.
PROPERTY: a portion of office, 3700 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota
PRICE: $2.93 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $2.91 million, November 2012

BUYER: BW 41 Jasmine LLC (Brightwork Real Estate Inc.), Tampa
PROPERTY: a portion of office, 3700 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota
PRICE: $775,000
PREVIOUS PRICE: $2.91 million, November 2012
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Gardner Brewer Martinez-Monfort PA

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:
Berlin Patten Ebling PLLC purchased the 14,458-square-foot Leedom Building on U.S. 41 for $2.93 million.

The price equated to $202 per square foot. That figure is higher than the two-year average price per square foot for office space ($119) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

The law firm plans to make the two-story building its Sarasota headquarters.

“We love the location,” says Evan Berlin, a partner in the firm and manager of the purchase entity. “There isn't that much available in that size. We wanted room to grow. Plus, there's the visibility on U.S. 41. We also didn't need to be near the courthouse because we're a real estate firm.”

The firm will be gutting and reconfiguring the second floor of the building and hopes to be able to move in by mid- to late summer. Berlin says the firm is considering leasing out a portion of the first floor to a tenant.

The U.S. 41 building will replace 5,500 square feet the firm is leasing in the Sarasota City Center.

The firm managed to lower its purchase costs when it traded the right to buy a portion of the land on the parcel — a piece containing a 2,128-square-foot building — to Brightwork Real Estate Inc. The Tampa-based developer acquired that section of the land with the goal of demolishing the structure to construct a 4,171-square-foot building for a future retailer.

Nick DeVito II of Ian Black Real Estate and Lee DeLieto Sr. of Michael Saunders & Co. handled the sale of the Leedom Building. DeLieto and Ian Black and Steve Horn of Ian Black Real Estate handled the Brightwork portion of the sale.