TerraCap buys four Sarasota office buildings for $37.1M

A Bonita Springs-based investment firm has acquired four suburban Sarasota office buildings for $37.1 million, in one of the largest commercial real estate sales of 2015 in Southwest Florida.

TerraCap Management LLC's purchase of the Gateway Professional Center comes a little more than a year after it bought the 10-story Kane Plaza office tower in downtown Sarasota for $11.5 million, according to property records.

TerraCap acquired Gateway at a significant discount to its previous price of $55 million, which an affiliate of Boston-based TA Associates Realty paid in July 2006, records show. TA was selling because one of its funds was sunsetting.

At the time of TA's purchase, the 301-551 N. Cattlemen Road buildings were fully occupied by homebuilders such as Lennar Corp. and US Home.

"One key component now was that we were able to buy well below replacement costs, and we have a good basis in the project and felt there was good lease-up potential that could boost net operating income,” said Stephen Hagenbuckle, TerraCap's founder and managing director.

Today, occupancy is about 89%. Major tenants include Global Financial; Dickinson & Gibbons PA; Taylor Morrison; Progressive Insurance; C-Suite Communications; Liberty Mutual; and others, said Alfie Hamilton, vice president of leasing with The Pointe Group, which leases and manages the complex.

“This project is among the highest quality suburban offices in Sarasota County,” said John Harshman, president of Harshman & Co. Inc., a Sarasota commercial real estate brokerage firm that was a co-operating broker involved in the Gateway purchase with Heights Realty & Investments, a TerraCap affiliate.

“This is an extremely well-located and well-constructed property, and a good long-term investment for the buyer,” Harshman added.

TerraCap finalized its purchase of the 248,270-square-foot complex May 8 from TA, which controls in excess of $8 billion worth of real estate nationwide.

The 35-acre Gateway complex was developed by a partnership led by John and Gavin Meshad, who sold Gateway to TA, beginning in 1999. Pointe Group has been retained for leasing and management going forward.

This article has been updated to reflect the correct the purchase price and leasing agent.