Commercial RE Briefs

By Business Observer Staff
| 6:00 p.m. October 27, 2006
| 2 Free Articles Remaining!

Tampa Bay-Lakeland

by Sean Roth | Real Estate Editor

Tampa Bay

Liberty Property Trust makes long-term play with Renaissance

BUYER: Liberty Property Trust

SELLER: America's Capital Partners

PROPERTY: 8705, 8715, 8725, 8735 and 8747 Henderson Road, Tampa

PRICE: $103 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $68 million, February 2005

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Liberty Property Trust, a Malvern, Pa.-based real estate investment trust, purchased the five-building Renaissance Park office complex in Tampa from Miami-based America's Capital Partners for $103 million. The 71-acre office complex was originally built in the late '90s by Capital One as a call center, but the financial company shuttered its operations there in 2004. The complex was later repositioned to appeal to its current mix of financial and health-care tenants.

Although the surprising $35 million price jump (51.5%) in a single year for the 529,618-square-foot office park is certainly significant, a major reason for the premium was the different business model of the new owner.

As a publicly held REIT, Liberty Property Trust is required to maintain a large percentage of its funds in properties. According to Bob Goldschmidt, senior vice president with Liberty Property Trust, this means REITs in generally have much longer-term perspectives since rent growth is such a large part of its profit model. Liberty Property Trust was looking for a well-maintained long-term hold near other Liberty Property Trust projects, and Renaissance Park possessed all three. On the reverse, America's Capital Partners is private real estate firm, which structurally has far fewer hurdles to a quick profit on the site.

"This was a top class sterling asset that was built right and maintained right," Goldschmidt says. "We paid about $195 a square foot. We couldn't reproduce it for that amount. We also expect rental rates to continue to grow."

While the Renaissance acquisition obviously has made a big splash because of the total price, Liberty Property Trust has quietly amassed a considerable commercial portfolio in the Tampa area the past nine years that is now estimated at 2.8-million square feet.

Most recently, Liberty Property Trust acquired the 100,000-square-foot, Class-B office building known as 100 Legacy Park in Riverview for $14.26 million. Much like the 100 Legacy Park purchase, which was near the Silo Bend office building the REIT is currently developing, the Renaissance Park property is near Liberty Property Trust's 930,000-square-foot Woodland Corporate Center.

Current tenants in Renaissance Park include WellCare Health Plans Inc., Wade Trim, CEMEX and a division of Capital One.

Mike Davis of Cushman & Wakefield of Florida represented the seller, and Goldschmidt represented buyer.

Miami nonprofit buys Largo's Shadow Run

BUYER: Shadow Run Associates Inc. (principals: Elizabeth Vonwerne, Francis Gudorf and Edna Gonzalez), Miami

SELLER: TCB Affordable Housing, Inc. and The Community Builders, Inc.

PROPERTY: 12001 Belcher Road S., Largo

PRICE: $15.35 million

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Miami faith-based non-profit Jubilee CDC purchased the 276-unit Shadow Run Apartments for $15.35 million. At $55,615 per unit, the purchase price was unusually low for apartment properties in Pinellas County, which Darron Kattan, of Marcus & Millichap's Tampa office and one of the agents involved in the deal, attributes to the 501(c)3 bond financing on the property.

"It has to be operated by a nonprofit because of the rental and [resident] income restrictions," Kattan says. "That certainly limited the buyer pool significantly."

Jubilee CDC, which is sponsored by the Catholic Archdiocese, Lutheran Services, United Methodist, and Presbyterian churches; has developed a number of affordable housing and economic development projects.

Kattan and Andrew Wright represented the buyer, and Jeff Meyer, Robert Sheppard, Spencer Hurst and Armand Tiberio represented the seller. All of the agents are with Marcus & Millichap.

Colonial Bank plans Bloomingdale branch

BUYER: Colonial Bank NA, Tampa

SELLER: Sands & Skitsko Property Development

PROPERTY: 413 E. Bloomingdale Ave., Brandon

PRICE: $1.25 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $250,000, October 2000

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Colonial Bank purchased slightly less than an acre for future branch development.

Tina Ford, senior vice president Tampa Bay, says the bank plans to build its standard 3,500-square-foot branch office with four drive-thru lanes on the site but likely won't start construction until the fourth quarter of 2007.

"We expect it to open in the summer of 2008," Ford says. "Typically our branches will house seven retail employees and two others representing one of our other lines, maybe a commercial lender or an investment representative."

Banking officials were most interested in the site, Ford says, because of the activity in the Bloomingdale Avenue market along with the growth of other big banks' locations in the area.

Colonial Bank already has three branches in the Brandon area and 27 branches in the Tampa market, which covers Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties.

"We plan to open six to eight a year for the next five years in the Tampa Bay market," Ford says.

Etc...

• Surplus Property Innovations Inc. purchased three Wendy's restaurants in Tampa from 990254 Ontario Limited for $2 million. The Wendy's restaurants were at 8717 N. Dale Mabry, 2015 N. 50th St. and 5805 N. 56th St. Tom Brice, of Coldwell Banker Commercial NRT Inc., represented the seller.

• Star Stainless Screw Co., a distributor of fasteners, leased a 30,821-square-foot in building B of Meadow Creek Distribution Center in Tampa from EastMeadow Distribution Center LLC, of Hartford, Conn. GVA Advantis broker Jeff Bardin, and Trey Carswell, formerly with GVA Advantis, negotiated the transaction on behalf of the landlord. Cushman & Wakefield of Florida Inc. represented the tenant.

• MCS of Tampa Inc. purchased the 10,000-square-foot Stars & Stripes Commerce Park I Condo, an industrial office/warehouse at 5404 Hoover Boulevard in Tampa from Stars & Stripes Investments Inc. for $960,250. Tim Callahan and Chris Sass of Cushman & Wakefield negotiated the sale on behalf of the seller.

• Darron Kattan and Andrew Wright of Marcus & Millichap handled both sides of a recent 1 apartment sale in Orlando. Orlando Willow Bend, LLC bought the 192-unit Willow Bend Apartments from Granados Family Trust for $9 million.

• Kennedy Frost Investments Inc. purchased 213, 217 and 221 Hobbs Road in Tampa from Hobbs Road Industrial Park, LLC for $5.3 million. Tim Callahan, Rian Smith and Chris Sass of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller.

Sarasota/Manatee

Developer buys Palmetto land for flex park, building-research firm

BUYER: Memphis Road Investment Co. LLC (principals: David Horton and Robert Garbutt), Parrish

SELLER: Howard Rex Jr., individual and trust and Richard and Karyn Rex

PROPERTY: 2823 E. 17th St., Palmetto

PRICE: $3 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $958,800, January 1985

TITLE COMPANY ON DEED: First American Title Insurance Co., Winter Park

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Robert Garbutt and David Horton's Evolve Development Group purchased about 40 acres of heavy industrial land on Memphis Road in Palmetto for $3 million. The developers plan to create a heavy industrial park called North Manatee Industrial Park II. Garbutt says the partners plan to sell lots for half the site. They plan to split the remaining land and develop a multi-tenant flex building for lease on half while using the remainder for a construction-materials and construction research firm.

"We're going to use that to examine new ways and combinations of putting things together," Garbutt says. "Instead of always adapting a conventional structure, we'll start from scratch on buildings that will be particularly suited to the environment. We're also going to have to have a manufacturing facility to make unique components." Garbutt expects that the early research will delve into different combinations and methods for tested construction techniques such as tilt-up construction and metal-stud walls.

The research company Total Building Systems LLC is a joint venture of Evolve Development Group, general contractor MB Builders Inc., insulation subcontractor Southern Home Instillation, Karins Engineering Group, DCDG Architects and concrete subcontractor Reno Concrete Construction.

Garbutt says that because the site is already zoned correctly, the company can start selling 5-acre or larger sites any time.

Evolve Development Group recently finished infrastructure work on the light industrial 28-lot North Manatee Industrial Park I at Canal Road and 17th Street in Palmetto. The company has contracts to sell 25 of the 28 lots.

Memphis Road Investment mortgaged the 40 acre site to Freedom Bank for $3.07 million.

Ringling School buys nearby Shell station land

The Ringling School of Art and Design signed a purchase agreement to acquire the Shell service station at U.S. 41 and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Sarasota.

School officials have declined to disclose the purchase price for the gas station, which sits at the gateway to the school.

Dianne Belk, chairman of a school-appointed task force formed to acquire the property, says the purchase is expected to close Nov. 30.

The seller is an affiliate of Shell Oil Corp., known as Motiva.

Belk says her group has been working on the transaction for the past 18 months. She says she contacted a representative of Motiva in 2005 to inquire whether the corporation would consider selling.

"He said the property was not for sale," Belk says, "and that it was not in (the company's) portfolio of properties to sell."

But he suggested to Belk that she make an offer. "We sent an offer last November.... It was an exciting day," Belk says.

During the past year, the two sides battered back and forth over terms and pricing for the site.

In a press release, Ringling School said Shell Oil informed Mary Martha Food Mart its lease would not be renewed. Belk says in the release that Mary Martha Food Mart has been "helpful in making this purchase a reality, and we thank it for making the transition as smooth as possible."

After the school completes it purchase, it will begin environmental remediation of the site, which is expected to be complete by early 2007.

Ringling officials reportedly have no immediate plans for utilizing the property, but do plan to landscape it.

Critical Path Development planning office, flex park

BUYER: Fruitville Center Partners LLC (principals: William Dooley, Kenneth Smith, Wendy Mack and William Pickard), Sarasota

SELLER: MPL Properties Inc.

PROPERTY: 1151 Sarasota Center Blvd., Sarasota

PRICE: $1.23 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $310,200, September 2002

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Charles H. Ball & Associates PA, Sarasota

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Critical Path Development purchased about 4 acres in Sarasota International Trade Center for $1.23 million with plans to develop a flex and office condominium complex. As currently planned, the project will feature one 14,500-square-foot office/warehouse and two office buildings, a total of 18,500 square feet.

"We're hoping to start moving dirt sometime in the mid-first quarter of 2007," says Wade Pickard, president of Critical Path Development. "We're really tailoring the site to smaller users. Our study of the market shows that smaller users have been underserved."

Although floor plans are still somewhat fluid, Pickard expects to offer among other sizes: 1,600-square-foot flex units and 1,000-square-foot office suites. The company is holding off subdividing the park's planned 5,600-square-feet center building to see if there is a buyer for the entire space. Loyd Robbins, of Harry E. Robbins Associates Inc., is the sales agent for the park.

Critical Path Development is a separate development company owned by officers of Lakewood Ranch-based general contractor DooleyMack Constructors Inc.

Fruitville Center Partners LLC mortgaged the land to Columbus Bank and Trust Co. for $5.72 million.

Etc...

• Larry Sewell, trustee, purchased a 1,733-square-foot office condo at 3277 Fruitville Road, building 2 in Sarasota, from S&K Florida Ventures LLC for $460,750. Jeff Button and Jon Kleiber of Richardson Kleiber Walter, Kleiber Group Partnership, handled the transaction.

• Final work started on the 25,000-square-foot offices for Meals on Wheels PLUS of Manatee this week, when Ellen Campbell, executive director, announced that the permit for the final stages of the Senior Enrichment Center had been received. The new center at 1816 9th St. W., Bradenton is scheduled to open in March 2007.

Lee/Collier

Ram, Myrtlewood Partners buy Cleveland Ave. retail properties

BUYER: Colonial Plaza CRP LLC (principals: Myrtlewood Partners LLC and Ram CRA Partners LLC), Palm Beach Gardens

SELLER: Newcastle Village LLC

PROPERTY: 4329 and 4429 Cleveland Ave., Fort Myers

PRICE: 15.5 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $8.035 million, August 2003 (for 4429 only)

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Holland & Knight LLP, Jacksonville

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Real-estate developer and management firm Ram Real Estate and Myrtlewood Partners LLC purchased a 23,034-square-foot shopping center at 4329 Cleveland Ave. and the 179,464-square-foot Colonial Plaza retail center at 4429 Cleveland Ave. for $15.5 million. Ram officials did not return calls prior to publication.

The larger of the two shopping center properties has 17 store spaces, according to CoStar Group research, and is anchored by a 31,630-square-foot Big Lots, a 13,323-square-foot Furniture Concept Gallery and a 30,150-square-foot Marshalls. Other smaller tenants in the center include: Affordable Dentures, Birdie's Pizza, China Buffet, Head Games, Hooters, Iguana Mia Restaurant, Jay & Kay's Organ & Piano Co., Metro PCS, Ocean Nail & Massage, School Stuff and West Coast Medical.

The Colonial Plaza CRP LLC mortgaged the two retail properties to Colonial Bank for $9.25 million.

Florida Gulf Bank buys Cape Coral rehab center

BUYER: Florida Gulf Bank, Fort Myers

SELLER: Gregory and Angela Collins

PROPERTY: 1513 S.E. 8th Terrace, Cape Coral

PRICE: $2.1 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $345,000, October 1992

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Grant Fridkin Pearson Athan & Crown PA, Naples

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Florida Gulf Bank purchased a 5,584-square-foot Suncoast Rehabilitation building next to Cape Coral Hospital for $2.1 million.

"It was originally zoned for a bank there, but eventually that bank was sold to some private owners that converted it into a medical facility," says Steve Stewart, Cape Coral area president for Florida Gulf Bank. "We're just planning to bring it back to that original use."

Stewart says that converting the property to a bank again will require extensive construction work. Among its other planned renovations to the building, the bank will need to remove a swimming pool from the center of the building.

"What was appealing about the building was its great access from Del Prado [Boulevard] and its close access to the medical community and industrial parks," Stewart says. "We are conservatively looking to open in June of 2007."

It is uncertain at this point what number the branch will be for Florida Gulf Bank because of the bank's quick expansion, which will include in November alone new branches at Colonial Boulevard and Interstate 75 and another in the Sandoval community. The bank will have opened between five and seven new branches before the end of year, according to Stewart.

Florida Gulf Bank plans to close a leased location in Coral Pointe Shopping Center when the 8th Terrace office renovation is completed.

Investors compiling industrial assemblage on Bruner Lane

BUYER: Constance Dean, Fort Myers

SELLER: Geoffrey and Carol Sproul

PROPERTY: 2312 Bruner Lane, Fort Myers

PRICE: $1.9 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $480,000, July 2000

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Constance Dean, with Venture Realty & Investments Inc., purchased a 16,720-square-foot warehouse building in Fort Myers for $1.9 million. The building is currently being leased by Integrity Medical Systems, a company that specializes in refurbished and new diagnostic imaging and bone-densitometry equipment and parts.

"We're trying to put together an assemblage there for a possible project later on," Dean says. "It may end up being nothing, but that area is zoned for industrial uses."

Dean mortgaged the warehouse to Liberty Bank for $1.9 million.

Etc...

• 725 Development Corp. leased 3,590 square feet of space to American Commerce LLC at 305 5th Avenue S., Naples. Pam Watson of Prudential Florida WCI Realty represented the landlord.

• Fifth Avenue Realty Trust leased 6,027 square feet of space to Keller Williams Platinum Realty at 365 5th Ave. S., Naples. Pam Watson of Prudential Florida WCI Realty represented the landlord.

• Fifth Fourth Development Corp. leased 3,100 square feet of space at 375 5th Ave. S., Naples to Stewart Law Firm PLC. Pam Watson of Prudential Florida WCI Realty represented the landlord.

• ROI Developments LLC awarded Fort Myers-based J.L. Wallace Inc. a contract to build the administrative building for Pine Key Condominiums at 1055 Hancock Blvd. S., Cape Coral. The project includes construction of a two-story 1,196-square-foot building and a pool and hot tub. Construction is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

• Naples architect David Corban joined with landowner and investor Paul Gregg to form Gregg Development Inc. In addition to developing its own properties, the firm will offer development consulting services to area landowners. Corban will serve as president of the firm.

Corban was most recently vice president of Architectural Network, Inc. At ANI, he served as principal in charge of some of the area's most prominent mixed use and public use projects, including Renaissance Village, Naples Bay Resort, BellaSera Resort, the Village at Trail's End, the Cambier Park Band Shell, the Ritz-Carlton Beach Pavilion, and more.

Among the firm's current holdings are The Docks on Fifth, offering wet slips for 60 boats at a facility on U.S. 41 just east of Goodlette Road.; the Florida Health Academy property on U.S. 41 at 3rd Avenue South; and Victoria Square on Goodlette Road and Central Avenue. These properties will be targeted for redevelopment or expansion as warranted.

Gregg Development is headquartered at 1345 Fifth Ave. S., Naples.

• Fort Myers-based Stevens Construction started work on the new Lee County Electric Cooperative distribution and service center. Located on Global Drive in Immokalee, the 8,138-square-foot facility will house a 5,912-square-foot warehouse and distribution center and 2,226 square feet of administrative office space.

Situated near the Immokalee Regional Airport, the center will serve as the main service and distribution hub for LCEC's eastern Collier County territory. Alliance Design Group designed the future building.

The project is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2007.

• Carrisch Brothers LP purchased .83 acres formerly known as Juicy Lucy's at 1240 Homestead Road, Lehigh Acres from DMPI LLC for $705,000. Adam Palmer of Coldwell Banker Commercial NRT, Scott Robertson and Gary Tasman handled the transaction.

• The D'Jamoos Group has debuted a Web site, SaoGrato.com, for its new 23-acre, $100-million mixed-use Naples project, São Grato. The development will feature about 51,477 square feet of retail space, 11,188 square feet for restaurants; 53,871 square feet of office space and 22,140 square feet of medical office. Groundbreaking is scheduled for early next year. One of Collier County's first true mixed-use developments based on new urbanism planning and lifestyle, São Grato is located on the former H.M. Buckley Wholesale Growers site.

• Colbalt Development Group Inc. purchased 9.24 acres at 18171 S. Tamiami Trail in Fort Myers from Inge Przystawick for $2 million. Hal Arkin of Gates D'Alessandro & Woodyard LLC Realtors represented the seller. Dan Miller of Re/Max Realty Group represented the buyer.

• Global Title Co. leased a 2,095-square-foot office in Fountain Professional Park at 3372 Woods Edge Circle, Suite 103, Bonita Springs from Exacta Dental Products, Inc. Tim Colen and Andrea Burson of Gates D'Alessandro & Woodyard LLC Realtors negotiated the transaction.

• Cathy Whidden-Solis purchased a one-acre commercial corner at 851 Ortiz Ave., Fort Myers from Arsenio Viera, Jr and Rigoberto Menendez for $515,000. Frank D'Alessandro and Tom Woodyard of Gates D'Alessandro & Woodyard LLC Realtors negotiated the transaction.