- April 26, 2025
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A back up plan: The owners of the 5,633.6-acre Owl Hammock Farm for sale in eastern Collier County, listed for $59 million, have an offer on the site. According to marketing material put out by SVN Saunders Ralston Dantzler, the Immokalee farm on State Road 29 is under contract, but the owners are accepting backup offers. The Lakeland firm did not respond to questions about how much the existing offer is for or who the potential buyer is. According to the listing, 47.2% of the property is dedicated to row crops; 10.4% is made up of unimproved pastures; and 8.7% of improved pastures. There are also 798.9 acres of wetland area that the listing says “could offer opportunities for conservation practices.” The property is zoned predominantly for agricultural and rural mixed-use, but there is a portion set aside for urban residential development, according to the listing.
Affordable funding: Lee County Commissioners have approved $39.25 million in grant funding that will go toward building 412 multifamily affordable housing units in Fort Myers. The money, which comes from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery funds, will be spread across three communities.
They are:
Borrow & buy: The sale of a 315-unit apartment complex in Tampa was completed with the help of a $52.2 million acquisition loan arranged by Berkadia. The property is Henley Tampa Palms in the city’s Tampa Palms master-planned community. The buyer is Baltimore-based Continental Realty Corp. which paid $82 million. The previous owner, 29th Street Capital in Chicago, paid $73 million for the community in 2021. Berkadia secured the 10-year fixed rate, interest only loan through Freddie Mac for CRC. CRC, which first announced the purchase in a widely circulated press release, says Henley Tampa Palms is made up of 53 two-story garden style apartment buildings. Units range from 941 square feet to 1,671 square feet. The property, at 15350 Amberly Dr. was 94% leased at the time of sale. Berkadia’s Mitch Sinberg, Scott Wadler, Jared Hill and Bryan Brown secured the loan for CRC. Berkadia also represented 29th Street Capital in the sale, with Matt Mitchell, Jason Stanton, Chris Burtner, Tyler and Brett Moss working on the deal.
Off-market opportunity: A 2.4-acre parcel in Largo is up for sale. The property is at 900 Starkey Road and, according to local commercial real estate firm Axxos, can be developed for multifamily, retail or office use. The firm sent out a marketing email for the property but writes that “it should be stressed that this opportunity is ‘Currently Not on the Market.’” With that said, it goes on to provide great detail of what’s available, writing that the asking price is “subject to offer.” Pinellas County property records show the current owner, Christian Fellowship Church of Largo, bought the land in 1964 for $1. Axxos says the property already has fiber and power lines and since it was recently annexed by Largo will have water, sewer and trash available from the city. There are two existing buildings totaling 8,200 square feet on the land — one built in 1935 and the other in 1971. The firm says they “are both stick and easily demolished.” Axxos says the city is open to rezoning the property and that multifamily “seems to be very desirable with increased density.”
Split ‘em up: A freestanding office building on Fruitville Road in Sarasota has sold. The buyer is a locally owned LLC which paid $1.2 million. According to the Sarasota commercial real estate firm Loyd Robbins & Co., the owner plans an extensive remodel to convert the 4,800-square-foot building from general office to medical use. The firm represented the seller, Tenth Way Corp. The building is in the Fruitville Forum, which Tenth Way first developed in 2008. It is made up of three buildings totaling 17,600 square feet of rentable space sitting on 3.45 acres of commercial property. Tenth Way recently formed an entity named the Fruitville Forum Land Condominium, which divided the three buildings into separate parcels. As part of the agreement, each owner will have an interest in the parking lot and driveways. Robbins is the listing agent for the two remaining buildings, including the former Nellie’s Deli location and the building that houses Cakes By Ron.
Orchard park: The former Albritton fruit orchards east of Interstate 75 near Clark Road are now owned by Sarasota County, which purchased the land this fall for $19 million. The seller was Albritton Groves, which previously operated fields there for blueberry picking from mid-March through the end of May. Sarasota County will use the land for soil needed to cover waste at the Central County Solid Waste Disposal Complex, which is also on property the county bought from the Albritton family. When the county purchased the land 20 years ago for its landfill, it negotiated a first right to purchase option of any adjacent lands, according to a memo from County Administrator Jonathan Lewis in July, when commissioners approved the issuance of revenue bonds to finance the new land acquisition. According to Lewis, the Albrittons notified the county in August 2022 that they planned to sell 341 acres at 9665 State Road 72. Sarasota County let Albritton Groves know the following month that it planned to make an offer, and in April 2023, county commissioners approved a contract for the sale and purchase of the property. County commissioners authorized the county in July to issue Solid Waste System Revenue Bonds to fund the acquisition over a 15-year period. Repayment will be from tipping fees and other revenues in the Solid Waste System Operating and Maintenance Fund.
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