City pushes to attract businesses, developers to major commercial thoroughfare

Naples/Fort Myers

Office building sale: A 36,149-square-foot office building in Naples has sold. A company named Buffalo Grove Venture bought the property at 1185 Immokalee Road for $10 million. The three-story building was built in 2002. According to Collier County property records, the previous owner, Naples 9 LLC, paid $11.5 million for the building in 2008. LSI Cos. represented the seller.

Move on up: Marcus & Millichap has named Jim Shiebler senior vice president of investments. Shiebler, based in Fort Myers, specializes in single-tenant, net-lease restaurants throughout the Southeast and multi-tenant retail properties on Florida’s west coast. He has been with Marcus & Millichap since 2016. Between 2019 and 2021 he was a part of 144 retail transactions totaling more than $300 million in sales. And in 2022, he was responsible for over $90 million in transactions and 41 closings.

Tampa/St. Petersburg

Building on the edge: The Metro, a recently completed apartment building in St. Petersburg, has sold. The buyer was a private California investor who paid $28.2 million for the property. North Carolina-based Capstone Cos. brokered the sale. The 100-unit apartment community was built by DevMar Development. A website for the project puts the cost of the development at $24 million. The Metro is seven stories and features only furnished studio units. It’s located in the Edge District, one of the fastest growing neighborhoods in the city. The buyer is contracting with Mint House, a short-term rental firm, to manage the property.

In the heights: Construction has started on a 321-unit apartment development in Tampa Heights. The developers — Tampa-based Loci Capital and Maifly Development — are building the complex on 2.45-acres in the city neighborhood. The property sits on the northeast corner of North Florida Avenue and East Seventh Avenue. When complete, the Tampa Heights Apartments, as they’ll be known, will include one-, two- and three-bedroom units ranging in size from 512 square feet to 1,393 square feet. Construction is expected to last about two years.

First step, a video: Clearwater seeks to bring new development to a stretch of U.S. Highway 19, it’s main commercial corridor. The city’s Economic Development and Housing Department has released a video showing off what it calls the potential for employment, growth and investment. The idea, the department’s chief, Denise Sanderson, says, is “to inspire site selectors, brokers, developers and CEOs to explore the development opportunities the corridor provides.” Clearwater, in 2017, rezoned about 4,000 parcels along the nearly seven-mile stretch of U.S. 19 that runs through the city. The zoning district provides for increased densities meant to create “a more urban form of development.”

Sarasota/Manatee

Making it rain: Gables at Honore, a 54-unit apartment community in Sarasota, has been refinanced. An unnamed bank provided an $8.15 million, five-year, fixed-rate loan with three years of interest only, says Berkadia, which arranged the financing. The complex, at 3400 Tyne Ln., is made up of two-, three- and four-bedroom units ranging from 890 square feet to 1,320 square feet. It was built in 1993. In addition to the Sarasota property, Berkadia also arranged a $18 million, seven-year, fixed-rate loan, with five years of interest only from Freddie Mac for Lodge at Woodlake in Lakeland. The 188-unit complex at 1475 Woodlake Dr. was built in 1975. It’s made up of one-, two-, and three-bedroom units ranging from 935 square feet to 1,515 square feet.

Work is underway: Myakka Crossings Commercial Park, a 7.5-acre mixed-use development in North Port, is under construction and parcels are available. The center is being built at the corner of River Road and U.S. Route 41. Site work is scheduled to start in about two months and will happen at the same time as construction for the first two tenants — a 7/11 gas station and convenience store and a 100,000-square-foot climate-controlled storage facility. According to the commercial real estate firm Harry E. Robbins Associates, which is the broker and has worked with the development team, North Port had to annex the land from Sarasota County, as well as design new lanes on River Road and extend water lines under Tamiami Trail.

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Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that a private California investor bought The Metro in St. Petersburg.