Imagine School St. Pete building sells for $3M

BUYER: The Trish Joy Collection LLC, St. Petersburg
SELLER: Schoolhouse Finance LLC
PROPERTY: 1901 Central Ave., St. Petersburg
PRICE: $3.15 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $3.15 million, November 2007
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Fidelity National Title of Florida Inc., Clearwater

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:
A company led by Patricia Duggan of St. Petersburg purchased the 34,055-square-foot former Imagine School property for $3.15 million.

The price equated to $92 per square foot. That figure is lower than the two-year average price per square foot for office space ($119) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

The three-story former charter school building occupies a 1.41-acre parcel just west of Interstate 275, four blocks from Tropicana Field.

Scott Clendening of Commercial Partners Realty Inc., who sold the building to Imagine School of St. Petersburg in 2007, represented the seller, Schoolhouse Finance. Imagine Charter School closed the elementary school in 2013.

“That area has really grown up,” Clendening says. “There is definitely more interest from investors than even a year before.” He attributes the increased interest largely to the arts and entertainment businesses there.