- September 5, 2024
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Double dealing: A pair of commercial properties in Fort Myers have changed hands. The first is a 16,851-square-foot building at 4231 Colonial Blvd., which sold for $2.15 million. According to Lee County property records, the buyer is a Fort Myers LLC named Properties of S&O. The seller was a local investor who paid $1.7 million for it in 2005. The warehouse building sits on 2.39 acres, according to LoopNet. The second property is a 3,492-square foot building at 1629/1631 Hendry St. The buyer is a local investor who paid $1.14 million. The seller is a trust. The single-story downtown building was built in 1925 and sits between Main and Second streets. Fort Myers commercial real estate firm LSI Cos. brokered both deals.
Working out: Crunch Fitness is taking over two of three New York Sports Club gyms that are shutting down in Lee County and will invest $1 million to renovate the properties. The New York gym chain says Crunch will honor the memberships at the two locations — 1755 Boy Scout Dr. and 9375 6 Mile Cypress Parkway — and allow members of the third club —1140 Ceitus Terrace in Cape Coral — to work out at a nearby facility. NYSC notified the state of its intentions to close the three gyms in a letter last week stating that the closings would be effective Sept. 1. The existing members were notified at about the same time and told improvements are coming to the two clubs now under Crunch. Among those is adding new equipment. NYSC started in New York in 1973 and moved into the Florida market in 2019 when it bought Around the Clock Fitness. A spokesperson, in an email to the Business Observer, says “the most important message we’d like to get to the community is that our members will continue to be cared for and have all of their fitness needs met.”
Lab results: Pharmetric Laboratory has bought a former manufacturing facility in Pinellas County and plans to expand from its current location. The 35,080-square-foot facility is located at 7265 Ulmerton Road, and was previously the site of Vista Pharm. Pharmetric paid $5.3 million for the property. According to The Ross Realty Group, which represented the company and announced the sale, Pharmetric has outgrown its current site at 28th Street N. in St. Petersburg. The St. Pete-based company says on its website that it “performs Sterility Assurance, Endotoxin and Method Suitability testing for clients nationwide on a daily basis.” Vista closed the facility last year after being sold and laid off 36 employees. It bought the property in 2001 for $1 million and sold it for $4.43 million to an Arizona LLC, Store Master Funding VIII, in 2019.
Boston buyer: An LLC tied to a Boston real estate investment firm has bought the Windsor Highwood Preserve apartment community in Tampa. According to Hillsborough County property records, GID bought the 354-unit complex for $63.99 million. The previous owner paid $60.6 million for it in 2019. The apartment community is at 18002 Richmond Place Drive, near Bruce B. Downs Boulevard and off of Interstate 75. According to the county records, it is made up of 31 buildings. The community’s website shows its units range from a 955-square-foot one bedroom starting at $1,695 per month to an 1,820-square-foot four bedroom. (A price was not disclosed for that unit, but three-bedroom units start at $2,230). GID, according to its website, has been in business for 60 years and in that time has “developed, managed, or acquired over 86,000 residential units and 32.5 million square feet of commercial space.” Its multifamily division owns and operates more than 180 properties, including at least one other in Florida, the Windsor at Pembroke Gardens in Pembroke Pines.
Thrifting: The Salvation Army is taking over a former Books-A-Million store at 4230 S Tamiami Trail in Venice. Loyd Robbins and Co., which represented the property owner, says the nonprofit leased the 17,750-square-foot space for 10 years and plans to use it as a store and for administrative offices. According to a LoopNet profile, the building was built in 1998 and sits next to a Walmart Supercenter. The property is owned by New Orleans-based L&C Interest, which purchased it from Books-A-Million in 1999. Sarasota County property records show it paid $1.75 million. The Salvation Army was represented by Kevin McQuaid of Michael Saunders & Co.
Spend to save: Sarasota County is purchasing 4.38 acres in Venice through its Environmentally Sensitive Lands Protection Program. The Venice property is on Lemon Bay Drive and is predominantly mangrove swamp with some mesic hammocks and remnant scrub habitat, according to the county. Brown pelican, roseate spoonbill, little blue heron, gopher tortoises, and green and brown anoles are among the species that call the area home. The land is south of Shamrock Park on Lemon Bay and across the intracoastal waterway from Caspersen Beach Park. While the purchase price is $350,000, an additional $93,150 will go toward closing costs, due diligence, startup activities and improvements, so county commissioners appropriated $443,150 for the project during a recent meeting. According to county documents, the seller is Skip Berg of Venice, who is an attorney. Since the sensitive lands program began in 1999, the county has protected 91 properties containing more than 40,000 acres through land purchases and conservation easements.
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