Orange Avenue building sells for $1.9 million

BUYER: Pearl SRQ LLC (manager: Eric Collin), Sarasota
SELLER: Cyril and Dominique Israileff
PROPERTY: 205 N. Orange Ave. and 1558 Fruitville Road, Sarasota
PRICE: $1.85 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $900,000, January 1999
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Gibson Kohl Wolff & Hric PL, Osprey

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:
A company led by Sarasota businessman Eric Collin purchased an 11,452-square-foot office building on Orange Avenue and a vacant lot on Fruitville Road for $1.85 million.

The price equated to $162 per square foot of office space. 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.

Collin plans to use the three-story building on Orange Avenue as both a new home for the construction company Firmo Construction and as a showpiece for his real estate redevelopment company, The Sibari Project LLC.

“Sibari will be doing all the planning and concept work for the rehab,” Collin says. “This building is a huge opportunity; it just hasn't been renovated or refurnished in several years. It's across the street from City Hall.”

The renovations are expected to take about three months to complete.

Collin plans to use the vacant parcel for parking for the near future, but longer term he says it may be developed.

The purchase entity, Pearl SRQ LLC, mortgaged the property to First America Bank for two loans totaling $1.77 million.

Jag Grewal and Amy MacDougall of Ian Black Real Estate handled the transaction.