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Real Estate Briefs (Sara/Mana edition)
Sembler Co. develops
S.R. 64 Eckerd store
The Sembler Co. in St. Petersburg bought grazing land at the southwest corner of State Road 64 and Lakewood Ranch Boulevard in Bradenton from Moore's Dairy Farm for $1.75 million. David Murphy, vice president with Sembler Co., says the developer hopes to break ground on an 11,200-square-foot Eckerd Drug Store. "It's just a high-growth area," Murphy says. "We are across from a Publix center. AmSouth just bought an outparcel there. It's near Heritage Harbour ... (and) Lakewood Ranch." Murphy expects construction of the building to take about four months to complete. Sembler Co. mortgaged the property to AmSouth Bank for $3.2 million.
Walters family buys
Bradenton's Globe Trailers
The Walters family purchased Bradenton trailer manufacturer Globe Trailers from Leonard and Geraldine Dobala for $2.2 million. Jack Walters, president of Bradenton-based American Torch Tip and one of the owners, says the family hopes to grow the company substantially over the next few years. The three-building development is located on about 10 acres. "It's really an excellent facility," says Walters. "There are two 12,000-square-foot buildings and one 6,000-square-foot (facility). We hope to continue to modernize the production. We are optimistic."
The Walters family mortgaged the property to the former owners for $1 million.
Three Najmy brothers buy
Sand Pebble Apartments
Three brothers - George, Louis and Joseph Najmy - bought the Sand Pebble Apartments and Hotel in the 2000 block of Gulf Drive North from Sand Pebble Inc. for $3 million. "We saw this as a chance to expand our real estate company," says Louis Najmy. "It allowed us to diversify." The Sand Pebble Apartments and Hotel is made up of 14 hotel units, 10 apartments and four suites distributed among four buildings, with two swimming pools and a Jacuzzi. They plan to rename the facility, the Sand Pebble Inn & Apartments.
"This allowed us to invest in more of a leisure resort property," says Najmy, "with the possibility of future (condominium) development."
Najmy says that property improvements should begin immediately. Those changes include painting the buildings, adding new flooring and signage and working on the facade to give the overall facility a Mediterranean look.
The five-person staff was retained. The brothers, who used the company name of Tri Star Properties LLC for the purchase, mortgaged the property to Community Bank of Manatee for $1.25 million.
Sunset Automotive Group
buys Mitsubishi land, franchise
Robert Geyer's Sarasota-based Sunset Automotive Group Inc. has created a significant dealership presence on the 7000 block of Tamiami Trail. Sunset Automotive Group purchased the Mitsubishi dealership and its property from Gettel Automotive Inc. The property, located at 7611 Tamiami Trail S., was purchased for $2.3 million. The Mitsubishi purchase was part of a three-franchise acquisition from Gettel, which includes the Jeep, Mitsubishi and Subaru brands. According to Donald Osborne, general manager, Sunset Automotive Group will operate the five franchises (Dodge, Jeep, Mitsubishi, Subaru and Suzuki) from three adjoining facilities. "We will probably build a separate showroom for the Subaru dealership sometime in the future," Osborne says. "We retained a number of them (the employees from the three transferred franchises), and Gettel retained some as well. We are still hiring people to fill the positions."
Sunset Automotive Group, which used the corporate name of 7611 LLC for the transaction, mortgaged the Mitsubishi property to SunTrust Bank for $1.84 million
Florida's Coldwell Banker
top realty company in state
Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate Inc.'s Florida sales figures for 2003 show a $2 billion increase in volume over last year. From Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2003, Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate Inc. sold 75,585 units for $18.9 billion, nearly a $2 billion increase over last year's $17 billion in annual sales with 74,000 units sold. According to the company, that makes Coldwell Banker Residential the No. 1 real estate firm in Florida.
Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corp. reported that the average price of a home sold by the firm was $250,000, while the median sales price in Florida was $172,500.
Coldwell Banker Residential is the largest real estate brokerage company in Florida, with 8,000 associates serving homebuyers and sellers from 200 locations throughout the state.
Gettel Automotive spiffs up
Toyota dealership
Gettel Automotive is upgrading its existing Toyota dealership, at 6423 14th St. W., Bradenton. "We are doubling the Toyota showroom location," says Jim Gettel. "We started it about two weeks ago, and we should by finished by March. We are really just moving the glass to enclose more area. It should allow us to get more cars in the showroom." One of the main reasons for the expansion is the need to make room for the new Scion line being launched by Toyota. The estimated cost of construction is $350,000.
Gettel says the dealership chain will be land banking the former Joyland building, 6424 14th St W., Bradenton.
Sawyer Oaks LLC plans
13 Sarasota office buildings
Sawyer Oaks LLC, a group of Sarasota businesspeople, is almost ready to break ground on a new office development in Sarasota called Sawyer Oaks. "We are in for permitting right now," says Tom Bleick, project manager from Dooley and Mack Constructors Inc., the general contractor for project. "We just received Swiftmud (Southwest Florida Water Management District) approval. We hope to start building the first building by the end of March." The office subdivision, which is located just off Sawyer Road about 300 feet north of Clark Road, will feature 13 buildings. Eleven buildings will be 5,000-square-foot, one will be 7,500-square-foot and the final facility will be 25,000 square feet.
The buildings will be available for either lease or purchase.
"This is going to be a very upscale office campus environment," says Lloyd Robbins of Harry Robbins and Associates Inc. The development is slated to have a rental rate of $16 to $17 triple net and a sales price of $215 to $220 a square foot.
Sunshine Sarasota Industrial Park
plans spec industrial building
Sunshine Sarasota Industrial Park LLC plans to start construction of a 23,000-square-foot single-story office/warehouse building on 6202 Porter Road in February. Renee Richardson Kling of Richardson Kleiber Walter says the project is being built speculatively. "We can divide the building into suites of various sizes," she says. "The rental rate has not yet been determined. But we are pre-leasing now." Construction of the building shell is expected to take no more than nine months. The general contractor for the project is Sarasota's Jon F. Swift Inc. The building permit lists the estimated cost of construction at $856,600.
Five area physicians
purchase Sarasota clinic
Five physicians, known as Pantaleon-Sarasota LLC, bought the medical practice and building of Sarasota Family Medical and Diagnostic Clinic from Dr. Bruce Grozier. According to Sarasota Clerk of Court records, the 5,000-square-foot medical building at 6813 Tamiami Trail S., Sarasota, was sold for $900,000. Dr. Bob Lupo, a Tampa physician and managing partner, says the group bought the urgent care walk-in facility, because of its location and the partnership's business goals. "Our concept is to get a few of these," says Lupo, "and operate them through economies of scale."
All of the medical staff has been retained. The new owners plan to add physical therapy services to the practice. "We are also looking at expanding the clinic's hours," says Lupo.
The physicians mortgaged the property to First National Bank Northwest Florida for $838,000.
Etc...
× St. Petersburg-based Hennessy Construction Services recently completed two Venice projects. The company finished a 9,795-square-foot flooring showroom warehouse for Montgomery Carpets Plus. The architect of record for the project, whose contract value is $857,888, is George Palermo Architect Inc. The firm also completed a 4,490-square-foot two-story office building for the Premier Community Bank, Island Branch. The architect of record was Interior Design Services, and the contract value was $548.409.
× The Nariah model by John Cannon Homes in Portmarnock in The Country Club at Lakewood Ranch was selected by thousands of visitors as their favorite model in its price category during the Lifestyle Collection Tour of Homes. Forty-two designer homes, representing 14 builders, were featured on the 10-day tour of homes. The Nariah model features four bedrooms, four-and-a-half baths, a second-floor den overlooking the nature reserve, custom cabinetry, and marble and wood interior accents.
× U.S. Assets Group recently started construction on the Orchid Beach Club, a resort-style condominium between the gulf and bay on Lido Key. Orchid Beach Club is being constructed on the site of the former Half Moon Beach Club. The project will feature two 11-story buildings with 54 residences offering views of the Gulf and the Bay. U.S. Assets Group developed en Provence on Longboat Key and the Beau Ciel, located on the waterfront at Boulevard of the Arts. The units are currently priced to range from the low $1 millions to more than $4.5 million. Completion is slated for 2005.
× Bradenton-based Bruce Williams Homes is forecasting more than $100 in sales during 2004. The homebuilder sold 250 new homes last year in 12 neighborhoods for a dollar volume of more than $72 million. Company officials expect the company to sell somewhere in the neighborhood of 360 homes in 2004. The company plans to open five new neighborhoods with more than 500 new home sites this year, and it will also mark the first year the homebuilder has developed town homes and attached villas in two planned communities.
× Jiten and Kirti Patel, of Lake City, purchased the Holiday Inn Express Bradenton, at 648 67th St. Circle E., from Oasis Hotels Inc. for $4.35 million. The Patels mortgaged the property to General Electric Capital Corp. for $2.478 million.
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