Tennessee investor pays $13 million for Fort Myers medical office

Fort Myers

Nashville investor buys Fort Myers medical property

Montecito Medical Real Estate, a Nashville investment firm specializing in health care properties, has bought an office building in Fort Myers’ Hope Preserve. The 27,267-square-foot building at 14551 Hope Center Loop sold for $13.12 million. LSI Cos., which brokered the deal, says it is fully occupied. Hope Preserve is a newly developed medical hub near Gulf Coast Hospital in Lee County. With this sale, there are two remaining pads available and a new medical facility under construction, says LSI CEO Justin Thibaut. “The transaction marks significant continued investment interest in stabilized medical assets in the region, fitting with demographic trends and increased patient-care needs,” Thibaut says. Montecito is a privately held investment company founded in 2006. It concentrates on medical office properties valued at between $4 million and $150 million. According to the company’s website, it owns properties in 21 states, including The Eye Institute of West Florida in Largo. LSI’s Thibaut and Christi Pritchett brokered the deal.

Charlotte and Lee

Grocer adding second store in resilient community

Publix plans to build its second Babcock Ranch store to anchor a new 140,000-square-foot shopping center planned in the solar-powered community. The Lakeland grocer’s store will be in MidTown Marketplace, a commercial center which will be built around the development’s latest expansion. MidTown, according to a spokesperson for developer Kitson & Partners, includes the new neighborhoods and parks along Babcock Trail and continues east to the where the center and a village green will be built. Babcock Ranch is an 17,608-acre self-sustaining community that straddles Charlotte and Lee counties about 45 minutes from downtown Fort Myers. It is made up of energy-efficient homes with an 870-acre solar panel farm powering it and its own water reclamation facility. About 50% of the community’s acreage is preserved. Construction on MidTown Marketplace and the Publix  are expected to begin early next year. The opening dates have not been announced.

Ruskin

Rural acreage marketed to residential developers

A 12.1-acre parcel has hit the market in southern Hillsborough County. The land, according to the listing from RedElk Land Co., is at 310 S.E. 14th Ave. in Ruskin near U.S. Highway 41. It is being marketed to residential developers. It is privately owned with the deed transferred six times since 1984. The sale price is listed as subject to offer. The acreage was listed by Bill Short, Tampa based Redelk’s president. Ruskin is an unincorporated area in southern Hillsborough, just south of Apollo Beach and near the Manatee County line. Like much of that area, it is quickly growing. Earlier this year, a 6.2-acre parcel off of College Avenue was bought by North Carolina developer Piedmont Cos. for $2.6 million. Piedmont is building a Goodwill retail store on the site.

St. Petersburg

First owners in condo tower to start moving in soon

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Residents will soon begin moving into 400 Central in downtown St. Petersburg. Red Apple Real Estate, the developer behind the 46-story tower, received its first temporary certificate of occupancy last week. The Residences at 400 Central is being built on a 2.3-acre site at Central Avenue and Fourth Street North where the “cheese grater” building once stood. When fully complete and open, it will have 301 luxury condominiums along with ground-floor retail and restaurants. As is often the case when the building hits milestones, Red Apple’s colorful billionaire John Catsimatidis Sr. summoned the media to mark the issuance of the certificate of occupancy and for a tour of what work has been completed — the residential lobby, amenity deck, finished condo units and rooftop. As of late October, about 80% of the units had already been purchased, the developer says. Along with the residents, Dynasty Financial Partners has leased 44,000 square feet of space in the building and will move its St. Pete headquarters there. Volta Wine + Market has also signed a lease and has plans for a gourmet wine and grocery store featuring a 10- to 12-seat boutique wine bar.

Tampa

Shopping center near USF sold

A shopping center in Tampa’s Temple Terrace suburb has sold for $10.5. million. The center is the Fountain Shoppes at 8942 Bertha Palmer Blvd., just south of Fowler Avenue and the University of South Florida’s main campus. The new owner, according to Hillsborough County property records, is an LLC with a Temple Terrace address that matches that of the real estate firm NRS Nationwide. The firm, which lists the Fountain Shoppes for lease on its website, says in an email that it is the registered agent. It did not respond to a follow up question asking for the name of the owner. SRS Real Estate, which announced the deal, did not disclose the buyer’s name. Records show the previous owner, Safety Harbor-based Paragon Property Group, paid $3.57 million for the property in 2018. The center was built in 2022. Hillsborough records show the property had received several liens in 2023 for code violations. The minutes from an Oct. 21 Temple Terrace City Council meeting show that city attorney Ernest Miller told council that liens in the amount of $161,450 had been paid off. According to SRS, which represented Paragon in the deal, the 18,110-square-foot Fountain Shoppes sits on 2.58 acres. It is made up of two multi-tenant buildings and two single-tenant buildings. It is fully occupied with a tenant lineup that includes Starbucks, Jersey Mike’s, Rocking Crab, The Joint Chiropractic, Hand & Stone, and Chase Bank. Each tenant, SRS says in a statement, has a triple-net lease in place with initial terms of 10 or 15 years and with multiple extensions available. SRS’ Patrick Nutt and William Wamble represented Paragon.

Lakewood Ranch and Tampa

California buyer picks up pair of local investments

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A California investor has bought two commercial properties in the region for a combined $10.08 million. The deals, part of a 1031 exchange, were for an 11,569-square-foot building occupied by the Primrose School in Tampa and a 4,562-square-foot dental office occupied by Monticciolo Family and Sedation Dentistry in Lakewood Ranch. According to Marcus & Millichap, which represented the buyer, both tenants have leases with corporate guarantees and include scheduled annual rent increases. The Primrose property is at 10301 Cross Creek Blvd. It sold for $6.7 million. The previous owner paid $6.85 million for it in 2021. The dental practice is at 9105 Town Center Parkway. It sold for $3.38 million. The previous owner, a New York investment firm, paid $2.73 million, according to county records. The Levin Johnston Commercial Real Estate Advisory Group with Marcus & Millichap says in a statement that the buyer is a family trust looking to trade out of a pair of multifamily properties in the San Francisco area — a 15-unit community in Palo Alto and a 20- unit community in San Mateo. The goal, the release states, was to turn those properties into “long-term real estate investments that were newer construction and not management intensive.” Adam Levin, the Silicon Valley team’s managing director, says the deal “not only eliminates management headaches with full responsibility placed on the tenant, but increases their cash flow by 40%, generating incredibly safe passive income.” The family has previously owned residential property in the area.

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