County to negotiate sale of administration building

Sarasota County's Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday, Sept. 8, to begin negotiating with six developers bidding to buy the county’s administration building.

Commissioners and staff from the planning department made it clear, though, that the vote to move forward did not bind them to any particular bid nor does it mean the county has to sell the property. The board retains the right to reopen the bid process or to cancel the sale altogether. 

The county began marketing the property earlier this year after a report found that it would cost $32 million to upgrade the current administration building at 1660 Ringling Blvd. and maintain it through 2031. On Aug. 20, the county received the six bids from developers interested in purchasing the building and two adjacent properties. Each of the offers topped $20 million and allowed the county to lease the building back for four years.

The Sept. 8 vote allows county official to begin negotiating with the six potential buyers and to then submit the best three offers to board. The board is tentatively scheduled to hear the best and final offers on Sept. 28.

Commissioner Nancy C. Detert, who represents District 3, is not happy that the bids are all in the $20 million range. She says selling the building and properties at the prices offered is akin to a “distress sale” and that one of the developers can swoop in, rezone the building to commercial and sell it for $80 million.  

“I hate when the government falls into the pit of buying high and selling low,” she says. “Because we know, to replace (it with) what we need, is probably going to cost us $100 million. So, $20 million, in the 20s, is a spit in the bucket.”

Detert recommended that board members get an appraisal that would consider the highest and best use for the property, which is now zoned for government use, as the negotiations go on. This, she says, gives commissioners a better feel for what the property is actually worth as they move forward.

The idea was rejected without a vote.

“I rather proceed, and if none of these negotiations are satisfactory, go out for another” request for bids, says Alan Maio, chairman of the commission. “What I would not favor is delaying the whole process, getting us involved in a two, three year rezoning process with the city of Sarasota — this land sits in the city of Sarasota…I’d like to see us get out sooner rather than later.”  

The county has focused on moving its administrative offices to county-owned land on Cattlemen Road, in northern Sarasota County which is near other county offices. Officials say the site, at 1301 Cattlemen Road, could work for a four-story, 120,000-square-foot building and parking for more than 300 vehicles while leaving room for future growth.

Maio says the estimate to build a new administrative building on property the county already owns is $75 million. He says the money generated by the sale, setting aside a few million dollars over the next several years and then borrowing up to $25 million should cover the cost.  

“And we can afford the building doing it that way.”

Of the six offers, the highest, $23.5 million, came from The Seng Co. and Weaver Capital Partners from Georgia. There were two $20 million offers and a $20.1 million offer. The fifth was for $22.5 million from Tricera Capital in Miami and sixth was from Renaissance Centro in Virginia for $22.1 million.

While the $23.5 million offer from Seng and Weaver was the highest, it includes a leaseback option — as they all do — allowing the county to lease the property for four years at $13 per square foot — $2.05 million per year — with a 3% rent increase beginning in year two.

One of the $20 million offers, from east Manatee County-based Benderson Development, charges no rent but asks the county to relocate its administrative offices to a property near The Mall at University Town Center. Benderson, one of the largest landlords in the country, was a co-developer and builder of the north Sarasota County mall, which opened in 2014. 

The bids were submitted on 1660 Ringling Blvd. The adjacent properties are at 1646.