Manasota Pallets owner buys three Porter Road buildings

BUYER: Pallet Dude LLC (manager: Brian Sehlke), Sarasota
SELLER: Brazos XX LLC
PROPERTY: 6203 and 6121 Porter Road, Sarasota
PRICE: $2.4 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $100,100, August 2012
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Shumaker Loop & Kendrick LLP, Sarasota

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:
The owner of Sarasota-based Manasota Pallets Inc., Brian Sehlke, purchased three industrial buildings, with 51,584 square feet of total space, for $2.4 million.

The price equated to $47 per square foot. That figure is higher than the two-year average price per square foot for industrial space ($41) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

The eight-acre property includes an 8,584-square-foot freestanding building on two acres fronting Porter Road and two buildings on Clarity Court known as Porter Industrial Park.

Roberta and Robert Kolton of Michael Saunders & Co. represented the seller, an affiliate of American Momentum Bank. Jeff Button of Richardson Kleiber Walter Kleiber Button Inc. represented the buyer.

“It's been on the market for a little over two years,” says Roberta Kolton. “When we first got it, it was less than 50% occupied. As soon as we had filled the last two buildings with tenants, the front building's tenants moved out.”

That vacancy in the front building attracted Sehlke, whose business needs additional space. But right before the closing, Button found a tenant to occupy the front building for the next two years.

Tenants in the buildings include the I Can Basketball Academy, a painting company, used auto sales firm, cabinetry company, pressure washing firm and moving company.

“The big draw for the buyer was the property,” Button says. “Having the front building with a large yard.”

The purchase entity, Pallet Dude LLC, mortgaged the property to Compass Bank for $2.16 million.