Historic beach hotel wants to add 629 rooms as part of massive expansion

Naples/Fort Myers

Missing links: Top Golf in Fort Myers is on the market. The 48,000-square-foot golf-themed destination off of Interstate 75 has been listed for $40.9 million by the commercial real estate firm Marcus & Millichap. The facility is off of Colonial Boulevard and was built in 2021 on 14 acres. Marcus & Millichap says there are more than 1,800 apartment units, 400 new homes and nearly a dozen national retailers in the immediate vicinity. Top Golf, which has more than 70 driving ranges across two floors, a restaurant and sports bar, has 19 years left on a triple-net corporate lease. The lease includes about 10% rent increases every five years during the base term and each of the four five-year options.

A good walk spoiled: Speaking of golf, the much-delayed Sunseeker Resort Charlotte Harbor’s golf course is set to open in October. The course will be called the Aileron Golf Club and will play from 5,000 yards to more than 7,000 yards and includes a 650-yard par 5. It is being designed by golf course architect Kipp Shulties and will include a 10,500-square-foot clubhouse with a full-service restaurant and bar and a pro-shop. The course is exclusive to hotel guests and will not be on the grounds of the resort (there will be shuttle service). Sunseeker is a $618 million, 785-room resort being built by Allegiant Travel Co. in Port Charlotte. It is scheduled to open in the fall after COVID, Hurricane Ian and then a fire halted construction at one time or another.

Tampa/St. Petersburg

Pair of eateries: A two parcel portfolio at Lake Brandon Plaza in Hillsborough County has sold for $8.12 million. The retail properties are outparcels at a Publix-anchored shopping center on Causeway Boulevard. One of the properties houses a 2,432-square-foot Chipotle and the other a 4,022-square-foot Panera Bread. SRS Real Estate Partners, which represented the seller, says the buyer was a private New York investor who paid cash. SRS did not disclose the buyer but according to county property records it is Kit Realty of Manhasset, which is on Long Island. In a statement, SRS vice president Patrick Nutt say the buyer “was in a large 1031 exchange and was looking for top-tier retail tenants on long term leases.”

Hotel revamp: The owner of TradeWinds Island Resorts on St. Pete Beach is seeking a conditional use permit that will allow it to add 629 rooms to the property as part of a massive expansion. 1754 Properties, which paid $81.4 million for the property in 2019, will have to go before the St. Pete Beach City Commission to get the permit, an early step in the process. A spokesperson for 1754 would not disclose the project’s price tag and says it’s too early to say when the commission will take up the issue.

The project includes the construction of resort amenities and supporting infrastructure. It also includes a 33,000-square-foot conference space, nearly 18,000 square feet of retail space — including space along Gulf Boulevard — three parking garages and an equal number of swimming pools. The additional rooms will be built in two buildings that will come online over three phases. The St. Pete Beach property is made up of the 25.5-acre TradeWinds Island Grand hotel, 5.9-acre Rumfish Beach Resort by TradeWinds and Rumfish Grill restaurant. The TradeWinds is an institution on St. Pete Beach that first opened in the early 1960s.

Shipped to Tampa: Pitney Bowes is opening a 14,000-square-foot office in Tampa that will house 100 employees. The global shipping and mailing company’s new global business services center is in the Westshore Corporate Center at 600 N Westshore Blvd. Lease terms weren’t disclosed, but a Loopnet listing for several spaces on several floors in the building lists the per square foot rent a $33. The employees will work on the company’s global shared services teams.

Sarasota/Manatee

Who says retail is dead: A retail property in Sarasota has sold for $3.5 million. The 5,773-square-foot multi-tenant building is at 3110 Fruitville Commons Blvd. just off of Fruitville Road and next to Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurants. The buyer is MJE Property Investment Group, whose address in the state’s Division of Corporations database is a private home in Sarasota. SVN Commercial Advisory Group, which represented MJE and announced the sale, says the investor has been actively buying properties over the past year. Among its purchases: BubbaQue’s BBQ building at State Road 70 in Bradenton and the Shops at Summerfield Crossing building in Riverview. The Fruitville Commons property is fully leased.

The waste land: EcoSouth Services, an Alabama waste management company, has bought three Manatee County warehouses for a total of $7 million. According to county property records the purchases are:

• A 5,000-square-foot warehouse at 10407 U.S. 41 N. for $1.5 million.
• A 3,214-square-foot warehouse at 10415 U.S. 41 N. also for $1.5 million.
• A 34,388-square foot warehouse at 6760 26th Court E. for $4 million.

The Mobile, Alabama company operates in Mississippi and Florida, offering construction, commercial and industrial waste services. The company did not respond to questions about what it planned to do with the three properties.

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