Guatemalan politician buys Burgundy Square apartments, retail

BUYER: Burgundy Square Venice LLC (manager: Harold Caballeros), Venice
SELLER: Rainmaker Trading Co. LLC, Friendship 7 LLC, Boo Investments LLC
PROPERTY: 201, 221, 223, 225 and 241 Miami Ave. W. and 317, 319 and 335 W. Venice Ave., Venice
PRICE: $7.9 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $2.3 million, April 2001; $1.29 million, April 2008; $1.2 million, July 2007; and $500,000, July 2006
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Kanetsky Moore & DeBoer PA, Venice

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:
Guatemalan businessman and former politician Harold Caballeros purchased the 45,380-square-foot Burgundy Square apartments and retail space for $7.9 million.

The price equated to $174 per square foot. That figure is higher than the two-year average price per square foot for retail space ($129) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

Built in 1925 and renovated in 2008, the development features 10 one- and two-story buildings on 1.57 acres. The community features a mixture of retail and 25 apartment units. Its retail space has a total of 23 retail bays with 19 shops, three restaurants and a wine bar. The apartment portion of the community features seven studio units, 16 one-bedroom/one-bathroom units and two two-bedroom/one-bathroom units with 800 rentable square feet.

Caballeros and his wife, who are buying a townhome in Island Cove in Nokomis, plan to have their entire family involved in promoting Burgundy Square.

The couple also plans to move more of its real estate holdings from Guatemala to Sarasota County.

Trained as a lawyer, Caballeros started the El Shaddai Ministries church in 1983, which has grown to 90 church locations, including 45 in Guatemala. Caballeros also created 19 K-12 schools, the Universidad San Pablo de Guatemala and the radio company Radios Vision Corp., which has 27 radio stations in Guatemala, Spain and Portugal. Caballeros also spent several years in politics, running an unsuccessful campaign for the president of Guatemala, serving a term as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and creating the Vision con Valores political party.

The purchase entity, Burgundy Square Venice LLC, mortgaged the property to Symetra Life Insurance Co. for $4 million.