Naples developer secures $234 million loan for luxury condos

Naples/Fort Myers/Charlotte 

One side: Naples developer The Ronto Group and Wheelock Street Capital have taken out a $234 million loan. The financing is for the construction of Rosewood Residences, a 42-unit luxury condominium development on the beach in Naples. It is being built at 1601 Gulf Shore Blvd. N. on the site of the former Naples Mansion House, which Ronto bought in 2021. According to Collier County property records it paid $167.5 million for the site. JLL Capital Markets, which arranged for and announced the construction loan, says the new development is expected to be complete during the third quarter of 2026. When done, it will feature two buildings with three- and four-bedroom units averaging 5,175 square feet. Penthouses will range from 5,170 square feet to 9,601 square feet. Each unit will have floor-to-ceiling windows, gourmet kitchens, luxurious baths, two terraces with outdoor kitchens and private elevators. JLL’s senior managing director Steven Klein, managing director Brian Gaswirth, associate Paul Adams and analyst Shane Ciacci worked with Ronto and Wheelock on the loan.

Photo by Stefania Pifferi

The other: Just 44 miles east but a world away, residents moved into the first building of a new affordable housing community in Immokalee. The complex is at the northwest corner of Lake Trafford Road and 19th Street in the Collier County city at the edge of the Everglades. The building, constructed to withstand a Category 5 hurricane, was built mostly from grants and private philanthropic support and is the first piece of a larger community to be built on the 9.5-acre parcel. When complete, the complex will have 128 two- and three-bedroom apartments, along with a community center with a computer lab and classrooms for early-childhood and afterschool programs. There will be athletic facilities and health counseling. According to the Immokalee Fair Housing Alliance, rents will be capped at no more than 30% of a family’s income. The poverty rate in Immokalee, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, is 23.8% and the median household income is $46,700. In comparison, the statewide poverty rate is 12.7% and the median household income is $67,916.

Tampa/St. Petersburg/Pasco/Polk

Image courtesy of CBRE

Big buy: Pinellas Business Center, an office park near St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, has sold. The 206,275-square-foot office park was bought by Boca Raton-based Basis Industrial. CBRE Capital Markets, which announced the sale, did not disclose the purchase price and Pinellas County property records had not been updated as of Aug. 30. The seller was Taurus Investment Holdings, which paid $19.92 million for the center in 2021. CBRE represented Taurus in the deal. The center on Roosevelt Boulevard is made up of six buildings and has flex and office space. The property is 93% leased with a tenant roster that includes public and private sector firms taking from 2,000 square feet to just over 41,000 square feet. It was built in 1985 and 1986, then underwent a $3 million renovation in 2022 and 2023. Basis is an investment firm specializing in self-storage and multi-tenant industrial warehousing. It has $5 billion of total investment capitalization and owns, developed and manages 15 million square feet of space. Dale Peterson, Joe Chick and Courtney Snell represented Taurus for CBRE.

Swooping in: A Pennsylvania real estate investment firm has picked up three local properties totaling 12.4 acres. Two of the properties are in Tampa and a third is in Lakeland. The buyer is Alterra IOS, a Bryn Mawr company that specializes in industrial outdoor storage — thus the IOS — sector. It paid a combined $13.83 million for the three properties. According to its website, Alterra has raised $1.5 billion in equity over the past two years and currently owns 270 properties in more than 30 states across the U.S. Of those, seven are in Florida.

The properties are:

• 6113 Causeway Blvd. in Tampa. It sits on 3.2 acres and includes 9,600 square feet of warehouse space and a 3,030-square-foot shop building. According to Hillsborough County records, Alterra paid $4.33 million for it. The previous owner, a Clearwater LLC, bought the property last year for $4 million.
• 9713 Palm River Road in Tampa. It sits on 2.6 acres and includes 12,000 square feet of warehouse space. The property has been leased to a national convenience store chain for truck fleet storage. Alterra paid $3 million for the property. The previous owner, Brightview Landscape Services, paid $755,000 for it in 2017.
• 4434 Maine Ave. in Lakeland. It sits on 6.6-acres and includes a 46,865-square-foot warehouse. The site is currently leased to a national trucking company. According to Polk County property records, Alterra paid $6.55 million for the property. The previous owner, a St. Petersburg LLC, paid $2.81 million for it last year.

Sarasota/Manatee

Store it: A Brooklyn investor has bought a storage facility in Osprey and renamed it. The property is at 626 S. Tamiami Trail. It was previously a CubeSmart but the new owner has changed that to Extra Space Storage. The buyer is an LLC that paid $9.15 million for the property. The previous owner, Stonecrest Self Storage, paid $900,000 for it in 2020. Extra Space Storage is based in Salt Lake City. According to its website it owns facilities but is also a third-party management company.

Courtesy image

Play ball: Seeking to tap into the latest baseball performance technology, the Baltimore Orioles are planning an on-campus expansion of the team's spring training facilities at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota. According to the Sarasota Observer, sister paper of the Business Observer, on Aug. 14, Philip DiMaria of planning consultant Kimley-Horn appeared before the city’s Development Review Committee for a pre-application conference. The Orioles propose an expansion of the existing clubhouse adjacent to practice fields to add four high-tech indoor batting cages, expanded classroom space and associated utility upgrades. The plan also includes the addition of 77 parking spaces for players and their families. 

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