Benderson buys Sarasota shopping center for $14.4 million

One of the most prolific retail real estate companies in the country, east Manatee County-based Benderson Development, has acquired a Burlington-anchored shopping center in Sarasota. 

Benderson, through an affiliated LLC, paid $14.4 million for the 128,399-square-foot shopping center named Bee Ridge Square, according to Sarasota County property records. The deal closed April 28, Benderson announced in a May 1 statement. 

The buyer was CCB Associates 13 LLC, which is managed by Shaun Benderson, Florida Department of State records show. The LLC's address is the same as Benderson's University Park headquarters, and Shaun Benderson is an executive at Benderson Development and grandson of the company's late founder, Nate Benderson. The seller is Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corp., according to the deed filed in the Sarasota County Clerk's office. 

Bee Ridge Square is near the intersection of Bee Ridge and Cattlemen roads, just west of the Bee Ridge exit of Interstate 75. In addition to department store Burlington, the center is home to 15 businesses and restaurants, according to a statement. That includes Stage Door Studios, OfKors Bakery and EGGSTraordinary Café.

Benderson has been growing its portfolio in recent years through acquisitions, and now has over 800 properties across 40 states. In late March it acquired the former Café Baci restaurant, on U.S. 41 and Bee Ridge Road, for $2.8 million.