Siesta Center sells for $4.6M

SIESTA KEY — A 300-foot block of storefronts on the main drag of Siesta Key Village changed hands this week, marking the most expensive commercial sale on the island in at least two years. And real estate investor Jeff Berlin says he is aggressively seeking more Siesta Key land.

Berlin purchased the four-parcel Siesta Center on the 5000 block Ocean Boulevard for $4.6 million. The roughly 20,000 square feet of retail space is 85% leased, with tenants that include the Village Cafe, Siesta Key Mermaids and a Sarasota County Sheriff's Office substation.

“It's one of the three unique, crown-jewel locations in the county,” Berlin told the Business Observer. “It's in the category of St. Armands Circle and Main Street — it's a unique commodity that can't be reproduced.”

The new owner has already hired Sarasota-based Hembree & Associates Inc. to manage the property, and it is planning upgrades to the buildings.

“We'd like to attract retail that will generate a little bit more traffic for the existing tenants there,” Berlin says.

The seller, a company led by local philanthropist Dennis McGillicuddy, purchased Siesta Center in 1994 for $1.1 million.

—reporting by Alex Mahadevan, correspondent