Loading
Commercial Real Estate Briefs
by Sean Roth | Real Estate Editor
LEE-COLLIER
New York group develops airport parcel
BUYER: John Backe, Bonita Springs
SELLER: Alico Airpark LLC
PROPERTY: 12451 Alico Road and additional vacant commercial land, Fort Myers
PRICE: $21.2 million
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Salvatori & Wood PL, Naples
PLANS, DESCRIPTION: A New York City equity group purchased 241 acres at Alico and Airport Haul roads adjacent to the Southwest Florida International Airport, for $22.2 million.
The property, called Alico Airpark Center, features 109 acres of buildable land that is zoned and entitled for a maximum of 1.2 million square feet of development in a mixture of office, retail or light to heavy industrial uses. Galvano says $3.2 million of the purchase price will go to the seller's purchase of 400 acres of mitigation land in eastern Collier County.
"What they liked was the location and the fact that it was fully entitled with all the approvals from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife (Service), the Army Corp of Engineers and has its development order," Galvano says. "Entitlements are a two- to three-year process. Now we just need building approvals."
Galvano, who will be managing the development for the group, plans to start marketing it soon. The property is being listed starting at $9 a square foot with water and sewer already in place .
Jessica Russo of Advanced Realty Solutions Inc. in Naples represented the seller, and Rich Galvano of Galvano Development LLC represented the buyers.
John Backe, who purchased the property on behalf of the group, mortgaged the property to The Backe Group Inc. for $19.48 million.
Great Dane Developers
buys Grand Apartments
BUYER: Great Dane Developers Corp. (principal: Laura Leonard), Cape Coral
SELLER: Sunset Club Properties Ltd.
PROPERTY: 2840 Grand Ave., Fort Myers
PRICE: $1.57 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $750,000, May 1998
TITLE FIRM ON DEED: Bay Title Services, Cape Coral
PLANS, DESCRIPTION: A company headed by Laura Leonard of Cape Coral purchased the Grand Apartments for $1.57 million. The Review was unable to contact Leonard or the apartment complex office for comment prior to publication. According to the Lee County Property Appraiser's office, the property features a 12,000-square-foot building on a little more than a third of an acre.
The purchase entity of Great Dane Developers Corp. mortgaged the apartment complex to Zions First National Bank for $1.03 million.
Naples developer buys
Hickory nook and marina
BUYER: Bonita Beach Holdings LLC (principal: Michael Shrigley), Bonita Springs
SELLER: Hickory Boulevard Properties LLC
PROPERTY: 26107 and 26105 Hickory Blvd., Bonita Springs
PRICE: $4.1 million
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Roetzel & Andress LPA, Naples
PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Naples developer Michael Shrigley purchased the Big Hickory Fishing Nook Seafood Grille and Marina in Bonita Springs for $4.1 million. The well-known eatery has 65 seats and features a marina with 24 wet slips.
"We're planning on spending some money to upgrade it," Shrigley says. "This is really a beautification project. It seems that not much money had been spent on the upkeep in awhile. I think they were just in selling mode for sometime and let things go a bit."
The new ownership doesn't expect to make any big changes to the restaurant operations. However, Shrigley does also plan to improve the docks and seawall of the marina. The early budget for the initial upgrades to the property is $150,000. "Further down the road I may be looking at doing a dry dock facility there," he says.
A private commercial and residential developer, Shrigley is known for the Metro Art Business Center in Fort Myers.
Shrigley's purchase entity, Bonita Beach Holdings LLC, mortgaged the property to the former owners for $2.9 million.
Six L's Packing
buys Tomato Man
BUYER: Immokalee Packing LLC (LFC Enterprises Inc., Sheryl Weisinger, Peter Dessak, Jaime Weisinger, Maxwell Press and Toby Purse), Immokalee
SELLER: Tomato Man Inc.
PROPERTY: 105 Jerome Drive and 306 E. Main St., Immokalee
PRICE: $3 million
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Hamrick Perrey Quinlan & Smith PA, Bradenton
PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Immokalee-based fruit/vegetable supplier Six L's Packing Co. purchased the assets of the Tomato Man Inc and the Tomato Man's packinghouse in Immokalee for $3 million.
Ed Angrisani and Jay and John Taylor, who also own Palmetto-based supplier Taylor & Fulton, formerly owned Tomato Man. The brothers and Angrisani took over complete ownership of the packer after purchasing a remaining 50% interest from Bill O'Quinn in 2005.
Six L's Packing, which is headed by Larry Lipman, primarily distributes tomatoes, vegetables and melons. Six L's also operates Redi Plant Corp. a 450,000-square-foot greenhouse/plant-breeding and research facility. The company describes itself as the largest single-company tomato grower/packer/shipper in the state, and one of the largest in the nation.
Officials with Six L's Packing were unavailable for comment prior to deadline.
Angrisani and two other local farmers - Jimmy Grainger and Brian Turner - have agreed to purchase Taylor & Fulton from the Taylor brothers. The ownership change is scheduled to occur around the first of June.
Preshers Tool & Fastener
grows, adds warehouse
BUYER: LJP Building LLC (principals: Larry and Laura Peterson), Cape Coral
SELLER: Bradco Supply Corp.
PROPERTY: 910 S.E. 14th Place, Cape Coral
PRICE: $1.33 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $550,000, July 1998
TITLE FIRM ON DEED: Pinnacle Title Co. Inc., Fort Myers
PLANS, DESCRIPTION: A limited liability company headed by Larry Peterson, owner and president of the contractor supply house Preshers Tool & Fastener, purchased a former Bradco Supply warehouse building on 14th Place for $1.33 million.
"We're planning to build a new 30,000-square-foot building on a lot adjacent to us," Paterson says. "But that building probably won't be done for another two years so we needed this one. We didn't have that much time to wait; our business is growing too rapidly. There is no way our current facility could meet all of our needs. We're going to be venturing into new areas to try to keep ahead of the recession."
Peterson plans to use the additional space to let the company add both new services and product lines. The newly purchased 19,540-square-foot warehouse will also likely house many of the company's back-room operations, such as accounting. The warehouse building, which is slightly larger than Preshers Tool's existing Cape Coral headquarters, will likely require only very minor improvements and cleaning prior to occupancy,
Peterson's purchase company LJP Building LLC mortgaged the warehouse property to the former owner Bradco Supply Corp. for $1.06 million.
SARASOTA-BRADENTON
Canadian group plans eastern village
BUYER: Lindvest Fruitville Ltd.,
SELLER: Fruitville Acquisition LLC
PROPERTY: 289 acres on Fruitville Road east of Interstate 75, Sarasota
PRICE: $14.5 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $18.2 million, December 2004
BUYER: Lindvest Sarasota East Ltd. (principal: George Hofstedter), Downsview, Ontario
SELLER: G&T Land Development LLC
PROPERTY: 156 acres near Dog Kennel Road and Fruitville Road east of Interstate 75, Sarasota
PRICE: $6.13 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $11.2 million, April 2005
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Dooley & Drake PA, Sarasota
PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Toronto, Canada-based real estate developer Lindvest Communities Inc. looks to be cleaning up some of the havoc left behind by Neil Mohamad Husani's Capital Force real estate flipping.
Lindvest Communities purchased 445 acres at the northeast corner of Dog Kennel and Fruitville roads and three miles east of Interstate 75 from Orion Bank's Fruitville Acquisition and Mercantile Bank - through a foreclosure from G&T Land Development -for a total of $20.63 million.
The developer, which is made up of many of the principals of the 55-year-old Toronto-area builder, developer and manager H&R Developments, is said to be in the planning stages to develop a village community on the site.
"Sarasota's future-forward 2050 plan has motivated us to focus on this beautiful area," George Hofstedter, Lindvest Communities' founder, said in a press announcement. "We are looking forward to working in concert with the Sarasota community and its leaders to ensure that our direction is consistent with their vision for the future. On each of my visits to Sarasota, it has become more apparent why many people, worldwide, look to this area for recreation, vacations and full-time residence. We are proud and excited to be a part of Sarasota's long term sustainable and structured growth."
Following the residential real estate crash, the site became symbolic of the excesses of pricing run-ups and real estate fraud that hit the two-county region during 2004 and 2005. In late 2004, Capital Force bought 289 acres of the property for $8.93 million and flipped it the next day to Michael Tringali's G&T Land Development for $18.2 million. In April 2005, Capital Force bought the second portion, a 156-acre tract, for $4.2 million and quickly resold it to G&T Land Development for $11. 2 million.
At that time, Tringali said he expected to reach a deal with Schroeder-Manatee Ranch to develop the property as a 2050 village with 708 residential units.
That agreement never materialized and in early 2007, Orion Bank's Fruitville Acquisition LLC took back the 258 acres parcel in exchange for the remainder of Tringali's mortgage debit on it, $14.3 million.
Canadian investors
buy Rolling Waves
BUYER: Rolling Waves Beach Cottages Inc. (principal: Michael Hric), Sarasota
SELLER: Edward and Theresa Woodland
PROPERTY: 6351 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key
PRICE: $4.25 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $600,000, January 1990
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Icard Merrill Cullis Timm Furen & Ginsburg PA, Sarasota
PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Larry and Pat Laurin, owners of the Canadian food storage company Conestoga Cold Storage Ltd. and part-time Longboat Key residents, purchased the eight-cottage Rolling Waves Beach Cottages motel on Longboat Key for $4.25 million.
"My husband and I were looking for property, and he liked this because of its real old Florida [feel]," said Pat Laurin "It's like Key West. It was built in 1948, but has been well-maintained since then. It's also right on the beach."
The Laurins have retained a manager to handle the property and have no plans to change the buildings for the near future.
The couple, which went by Rolling Waves Beach Cottages Inc. for the purchase, mortgaged the property back to the former owners, Edward and Theresa Woodland, for $2.9 million.
Conestoga, rated as one of Canada's 50 best managed companies, serves customers from southern Ontario to the Pacific Rim. It operates four fully-automated cold storage warehouses with a total storage volume of almost 16.5 million cubic feet.
Hap's Honda Cycle Sales
plans growth, new facility
Hap Poneleit, president of Hap's Cycle Sales Inc., knows the economy looks bad now, but with 60 years of selling motorcycles under his belt, he's preparing for the recovery.
Poneleit is working on site plan approval for a 30,000-square-foot showroom dealership on a vacant 4.3 acres next to the current 13,000-square-foot Hap's Honda Cycle Sales dealership building at 2530 17th St., Sarasota.
"This is not something we're going to build right away," Poneleit says. "We're going to wait for the economy to pick back up. I've seen a lot of ups and downs, but I've always been cautious about how far I go into debt. We have two years from the point when I get the site plan to take out a permit. [That land] has enough room that eventually we could also develop a new warehouse on it."
Poneleit expects that when the new facility is completed, Hap's Honda Cycle Sale would move and rent out its former dealership building.
Lakewood Ranch arena closer to foreclosure
In a summary court ruling, Circuit Judge Paul E. Logan helped pave the way for foreclosure proceedings to start on the Lakewood Ranch planned multi-purpose arena site.
Logan granted motions in favor of developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch and Landmark Bank in a suit brought by the arena's general contractor, Walbridge Aldinger Co.
The judge ruled that Landmark Bank, which loaned DVA Sports LLC $4.1 million for the project, had not made any negligent misrepresentation or fraud and that there was no indication that anyone from the bank had made false statements.
SMR sold the property to DVA Sports in July 2004, but the summary judgment is the first step toward foreclosing on the property, a move that would allow SMR to redevelop the site.
SMR President and CEO Rex Jensen said if the company received the property through foreclosure, he would "seriously look at trying to deliver the type of facility that the community thought they were getting when they signed on."
DVA Sports announced in 2002 that it planned to develop an arena and bring in a minor league hockey team. Construction on the arena halted after Waldbridge Aldinger walked off the site in February 2005, saying it had not been paid. The first lawsuit, which Walbridge Aldinger filed against DVA Sports, was recorded in December 2005, and in February 2006, Landmark Bank filed a claim to foreclose on DVA's mortgage.
Next, SMR is expected to file a final motion itemizing the calculation of the amount owed and asking the court to verify that amount. The sale could be delayed further if DVA files for bankruptcy protection.
- by contributor Pam McTeer
TAMPA BAY
Flagler buys Bridgeport Center
BUYER: FDG Bridgeport LLC (principal: FDG Mezzanine III LLC), Coral Gables
SELLER: Bridgeport Center LLC
PROPERTY: 5201 W. Kennedy Blvd., Tampa
PRICE: $29.5 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $24.2 million, December 2005
LAW FIRM ON DEED: WilmerHale, Washington D.C.
PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Coral Gables-based Flagler Development Co. LLC purchased the nine-story, 171,000 square-foot Bridgeport Center office building in Westshore from Boston-based AEW Capital Management for $29.5 million. The purchase marks Flagler Development's first acquisition in the Tampa Bay area, but additional purchases are planned in the near future.
Bridgeport Center is 99% occupied, and major tenants include Delta Air Lines, Florida Medical Quality Assurance Inc. and United Way of Tampa Bay.
The building was attractive because of its prominent location in Tampa, according to Keith Tickell, Flagler Development Group's executive vice president of development, along with its high-profile tenants.
Flager Development plans to improve the building through upgrades to the exterior, common areas and landscaping. The new owner will handle the management of the building, but CB Richard Ellis's Brian Devlin and Roxanne Kemph are being retained as the building's leasing agents.
Flagler Development owns, develops, leases and holds in joint ventures about 9.2 million square feet of office and industrial space - including Flagler Station in Miami and Flagler Center in Jacksonville, primarily in the Jacksonville, Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale and Miami areas. The real estate group has an additional 1.2 million square feet under construction. In Lakeland, Flager Development owns more than 800 acres of industrial land.
Grubb & Ellis REIT
buys medical plaza
BUYER: G&E Healthcare REIT Medical Portfolio 1 LLC (Grubb & Ellis Healthcare REIT Holdings LP, Santa Ana, Calif.
SELLER: TST Brandon Ltd.
PROPERTY: 425 S. Parsons Ave., Brandon
PRICE: $8.33 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $5.05 million, January 1999
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Pennington Moore Wilkinson Bell & Dunbar PA, Tampa
PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Grubb & Ellis Healthcare REIT Inc. has closed on the Brandon Medical Plaza building as part of a five-medical-building acquisition from Medical Portfolio 1.
The single-story, 42,000-square-foot medical plaza was purchased for $8.33 million. The property is located on the campus of Brandon Regional Hospital and is 97% leased. Brandon Regional Hospital leases 46% of the center. The building houses a variety of diagnostic and rehabilitation services, including MRI, CT, mammography, ultrasound, nuclear medicine and radiology.
Grubb & Ellis Healthcare REIT purchased the five medical office buildings, totaling 162,000 square feet, in Florida and Kansas for $36.95 million.
The remainder of the portfolio includes the Doctor's Medical Building, a 63,000-square-foot facility on the Overland Park Regional Medical Center campus; Largo Medical Arts Center and West Bay Surgery Center on the Largo Medical Center campus in Largo; and Central Florida SurgiCenter in Lakeland. The portfolio, affiliated with Hospital Corp. of America, was 92% occupied at the time of sale.
A group of five private trusts advised by Michael Davis and Joe Dominguez of Cain Brothers sold the properties. Wachovia provided most of the financing, including a $10.07 million mortgage for Brandon Medical Plaza property.
Grubb & Ellis Healthcare also has an option to buy four condo units at Memorial Healthcare Plaza, an 86,400-square-foot medical office building in Jacksonville for an additional $27 million.
Goodman, Forest City
buy more Wiregrass land
BUYER: Goodforest LLC (principals: Forest City Wiregrass LLC and Goodman Properties Inc.), Cleveland, Ohio
SELLER: Wiregrass Ranch Inc.
PROPERTY: parcels C-5 and C-6, in SEC 30-26S-20E along the proposed State Road 56 and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, Wesley Chapel
PRICE: $12.84 million
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Macfarlane Ferguson & McMullen, Tampa
PLANS, DESCRIPTION: The development partnership behind The Shops at Wiregrass, the Goodman Co. and Forest City, purchased two parcels in Wiregrass Ranch totaling 386 acres for $12.84 million.
Officials with Forest City and others associated with the project did not return calls prior to publication. The property includes a retail center anchored by Dillard's at the northeast corner of State Road 56 and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard and next to a 99,000-square-foot JCPenney department store.
The Shops at Wiregrass, which is part of the planned 5,022-acre, 16,000-home Wiregrass Ranch community, is designed as a 750,000-square-foot lifestyle center that will also house a 140,000-square-foot Macy's.
Ikea buys land,
site work continues
BUYER: Ikea Property Inc. (principals: Dan Gustafsson, Pernille Lopez, Dave Larsson, Gary Ternes, Margaret Jones and John Robinson), Conshohocken, Pa.
SELLER: Panattoni Investment LLC
PROPERTY: 1103 N. 22nd St., Tampa
PRICE: $25.42 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $11.2 million, July 2005
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Larsson & Scheuritzel, Philadelphia
PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Furniture retailer Ikea has closed on the 29-acre former Tampa International Center site planned for its Tampa store. The purchase price of $25.42 million equates to $876,662 per acre or $20.13 a square foot.
Construction on the planned two-story 353,000-square-foot Ikea Tampa store is scheduled to start this summer, but demolition of the former building and much of the site cleanup and infrastructure work is already underway.
"The former owners are responsible for the site and all the environmental remediation," says Joseph Roth of Ikea. "It's been an industrial site for several years. They're also responsible for ensuring the stability of the site. When they hand it off to us, we will be able to start building."
With its general site plan already in place, Ikea is in final negotiations to select the development's contactors, vendors and the final-design architect, according to Roth.
The store is scheduled to open in the summer of 2009 and should be Ikea's third store in Florida.
Ikea currently has more than 270 stores in 36 countries, including 33 in the United States. The retailer has new stores planned for Brooklyn, N.Y.; Charlotte, N.C.; Somerville, Mass.; and West Chester, Ohio.
Your free article limit has been reached this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited digital access to our award-winning business news.
Join thousands of executives who rely on us for insights spanning Tampa Bay to Naples.
