Lakewood Ranch apartment complex sells for $134.9 million

Naples/Fort Myers

The sale price is…: Lee County property records show that Atlanta real estate company ECI Group paid $78 million for what was previously known as the Longitude 81 Apartments in Estero. The company, which has renamed the complex Waterline Estero, announced the sale last month but declined to reveal the sale price. The complex sits on 17.95 acres at 11221 Everblades Parkway, which is off Corkscrew Road near the Miromar Outlets and the Hertz Arena. The 260-unit complex is made up of 11 two story buildings with studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom “townhome-style apartments” with private, ground-floor entrances. ECI bought the complex from a company named Passco Longitude DST which, according to the county’s property records, paid $54.9 million for the complex in 2017. 

Luxury out-parcels: Developers have bought a pair of out-parcels off Three Oaks Parkway and Estero Parkway in Fort Myers. The parcels are part of a collection of properties that borders the Estero Oaks Luxury Apartments on two sides. The first plot is 1.54-acre lot on the northwest corner of the intersection. It was bought by Augilar Development, which paid $1.1 million. The second parcel is 1.29 acres and was sold for $900,000 to an undisclosed buyer. The properties were previously owned by Estero Three Oaks Partners, according to Premier Commercial,  which represented the company and announced the sale.

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Tampa/St. Petersburg

Retail resell: The longtime St. Petersburg home of outfitter and tackle shop Reef & Reel has been sold. The building, with a distinctive Sunshine Skyway mural, sold for $1.75 million. The retailer moved to a flex space around the corner a couple of weeks ago, says Dee Maret with Bridgewater Commercial Real Estate, the commercial real estate firm that represented the seller. The 5,654-square-foot building at 3350 Tyrone Blvd. was bought by an LLC named JoyUs2. The principle address for the LLC is the same of the building, but according to the state’s Division of Corporation’s database the two managers are individuals with Orlando addresses. The previous owners, LH Venture Holdings, bought the property in December 2020 for $875,000.

Sarasota/Manatee

Connect the dots: The Row at Waterside apartments in Lakewood Ranch has been sold. According to Sarasota County property records, the 301-unit apartment complex at 1410 Lakefront Dr. was bought for $121.2 million by an LLC named RA2 Row Waterside. The address for the LLC is in Atlanta, county property appraiser records show. The Florida Division of Corporations database, however, shows that RA2 is based in Chicago. A further search links it to a real estate investment trust named RREEF America REIT II. The Row at Waterside features studios to three-bedroom apartments and townhouses ranging from 604 square feet to 1,712 square feet. According to its website, rents start at $2,238 for the studio and top out at $5,778 for a three bedroom. RA2 also bought 22 units at 1511 Lakefront Dr. It paid $13.7 million for that property, according to county records. The mixed-use Waterside community is Lakewood Ranch developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch's first residential project in the Sarasota County side of the master-planned community that borders Manatee County. The seller was an LLC tied to Davis Development Development of Stockbridge, Georgia, a city south of Atlanta. 

Born on third: Tampa’s Third Lake Development has paid $20 million for about 63 acres in Venice. According to Sarasota County property records and a copy of the deed, the company bought the land at 990 E. Venice Ave. #A in late June. The property, listed as vacant in county records, is zoned for multifamily development. Third Lake did not respond to a request for comment, but on its website shows at least two projects in the works in Venice. One of those is called Arcadia at Venice Avenue. The 297,008-square-foot multifamily development will have 312 units and is expected to be complete in 2025, according to a project description page on the site. That same page for Arcadia has a link to Google maps which shows the property of the complex as 990 S. Venice Ave. #A. A search for that address in Sarasota property records comes up blank.

Upriver market: River Club Plaza in east Manatee County has been sold. The shopping center at 5820 and 5770 Ranch Lake Blvd. was bought by a Kentucky real estate firm for $9.67 million. The company has a local LLC named Monticello Properties, but its main address is in Bowling Green and that address matches that of Greenwood Properties. The center, in a commercial corridor just off State Road 70 and Interstate 75, sits on 4.8 acres and is 29,240 square feet. According to a flyer for the property on LoopNet, 77% of the tenants have been in place since 2013 and the center’s shadow anchor is a 147,806-square-foot Walmart Supercenter.

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This story has been updated to show that Row at Waterside apartments has 301 units and the development's seller.