Real Estate Briefs (Sara/Mana edition)

Real Estate Briefs (Sara/Mana edition)

RJ Gators owners

buy restaurant building

The owners of the Sarasota-Manatee market franchise of RJ Gators: Jerry Milne and Terry Jones have purchased their existing Bradenton restaurant building, at 6100 Cortez Rd. W., from Ched Enterprises LLC for $925,000. The partner's first location opened in April of 2002, and Milne says the Caribbean-style family restaurant concept has been highly successful.

"It really has been a wonderful restaurant and a great franchise," he says. "Before the building used to be owned by a group that Terry's nephew was a principal owner in, so we just chose to buy it. Now we are looking for a second location."

The two partners are actually looking for a total of three new locations, Milne says, one more in Manatee County and two in Sarasota County.

"We looked at a number of restaurant franchises, before we found RJ Gators,'' he says. "We saw an operation on the East Coast and knew it would be well received by the community. I hear the second one is the hardest, you don't have the money from the first. The third and fourth should come along much quicker."

Milne expects to start construction on the first new building in the first part of 2005. He hopes to have it completed for a fall of 2005 opening.

Milne and Jones, who used the corporate name of J&M Enterprises for the transaction, mortgaged the Cortez restaurant property to First Priority Bank for $800,000.

America's Capital Partners buys

Wynnton's Renaissance land

Miami-based America's Capital Partners purchased 11 acres at U.S. 41 and Sixth Street in Sarasota from Columbus, Ga.-based Wynnton Group Inc., the developer of the Sarasota Renaissance, for $14.5 million. Reports call for America's Capital Partners to start construction on the city-approved Alinari at the Renaissance early next year.

The existing Renaissance building is a 16-story, 244-unit condominium development. Unable to develop on the property, Wynnton sold the Five Points parcel to Houston-based Ersa Grae in 2002 for $3.9 million.

America's Capital Partners is the brainchild of Allen de Olazarra and Rodolfo Prio Touzet, who first met as real estate brokers at Cushman & Wakefield's Miami office. In 1999, the nine-month old firm, which had already amassed a portfolio of 1.5 million square feet, purchased about 3.2 million square feet of suburban office space and development land from Highwood Properties for $323 million. The company, which now has a portfolio of 46 suburban office buildings (4.9 million square feet) and 49.5 acres, employs 85 people in Florida and Virginia.

Hembree, Ross develops

land as office park

Realtors Joe Hembree and Richard Ross, both of Hembree & Associates, bought several acres at 7120 Professional Parkway E. in Lakewood Ranch from Lakewood Ranch Corp. Park Inc. for $1.02 million. The partners plan to create an eight-acre land condominium called Lakewood Ranch Technology Park.

"This really gives us a lot of flexibility on what we can sell," Hembree says. "We can sell just the land or we can build them a building. We can build a total of 85,000 to 90,000 square feet there."

Ross and Hembree, who used the corporate name of Hembree-Ross LLP for the transaction, mortgaged the property to the Bank of Commerce for $1.7 million.

Hembree is in midst of building a 49,000-square-foot class A office building in the Magnolia Green at Lakewood Ranch. He is partnering with Schroeder-Manatee Ranch Inc. and Milwaukee-based Towne Realty on the development. The building, designed by the Reliable Group, is slated for completion in the late first quarter of 2005.

Hubbard family buys office,

searches for more land

The Hubbard family is having trouble finding property in East County for a new bowling alley.

Richard Hubbard Jr., using the corporate name of Hubbard Entertainment LLC, purchased at 6,000-square-foot office building, known as unit 1 of Tumberlake office building, from Myers Development Group Ltd. for $953,500. Earlier this year, the Hubbards closed the Rip Van Winkle, a 24-lane bowling alley, in Manatee County with plans to open a new one near the interstate.

"This was purely a 1031 exchange," says Dick Hubbard, Richard Hubbard Jr.'s son. "We just haven't been able to find land in Lakewood Ranch. We were focusing on University Parkway. Now we are looking more on State Road 70 near the arena. I would have liked to have started yesterday, but this is a long process, and we are going to get there."

Florida Rock Industries

buys vacant land

The Jacksonville-based construction materials company Florida Rock Industries Inc. purchased about 2.5 acres at 6000 Deacon Road from Brannen Prestress Co. for $790,000. The property is next to an existing concrete ready-mix plant that Florida Rock owns.

"We bought this property to give us more room to expand," says John Baker II, president and CEO. "We are going to come in and invest $1 million to upgrade the plant. It's not really going to increase our capacity at least not dramatically. But it will make the plant a lot more efficient to operate."

Florida Rock Industries is one of the nation's leading producers of construction aggregates (sand, gravel and crushed stone), ready mix concrete, concrete block, portland cement and prestressed concrete. The company also manufactures calcium products and markets other building materials. Its operations are concentrated in the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States, primarily in Florida, Georgia, Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C., North Carolina and Tennessee.

Manatee Dermatology

to build new office

Dr. Terrence Hopkins, with Manatee Dermatology, plans to develop a 34,160-square-foot new medical office building at 6011 Cortez Road W. in Bradenton. Hopkins purchased a 2,865-square-foot building on the site from Newport Westbay Ltd. for $725,000 on April 30. Hopkins detailed the plans for the new building in a site plan filed in Manatee County. Representatives for Manatee Dermatology were unavailable prior to GCBR deadline.

Medical group president

buys Sawyer Road building

Beth and Gary Kompothecras, of 1st Health Inc., purchased an 11,000-square-foot medical office building at 4040 Sawyer Road in Sarasota from Health Quest Realty XIII for $1.25 million.

"My company had been leasing there for a while," Gary Kompothecras says. "It's a multispecialty medical group. That was just one of our locations." The building, which is also leased by Senior Friends, is fully occupied.

"Property values are just going to go up there," Kompothecras says. "It's a solid building in a good location. It's a good investment."

The couple, which used the corporate identity of 4054 Sawyer LLC for the transaction, mortgaged the property to RBC Centura for $1.01 million.

Etc ...

× Coastal Group LLC leased 1,600 square feet at 8482 S. Tamiami Trail from Larry and Barbara Hankin. Rico Boeras of Preferred Commercial Inc. represented the landlord.

× Rex Horton of Sarasota bought a vacant industrial lot at 1802 47th Terrace E., Bradenton, from Aler Inc. for $325,000.

× SLS Holdings LLC purchased 5435 Catalyst Road from Donald and Mary Ann Davoli for $1.1 million.

× Pisces Investments LLC bought property on Gateway Avenue from GD Exit 32 Inc. for $585,000. Pisces Investments LLC mortgaged the property to Community Bank for $468,000.

× Oxford Development Partners LLC purchased 5451 McIntosh Road, Sarasota, from Three J's of Sarasota Inc. for $350,000. Oxford Development Partners LLC mortgaged the property to United Bank for $280,000.

× The Anderson Group LLC bought 3916 Midland Road from Gladys Wills, as a trustee, for $333,500. The Anderson Group mortgaged the property to AmSouth Bank for $283,475.

× New Concepts Storage Inc. purchased lots 22 and 23 on Paul Morris Drive in Morris Industrial Park, Englewood, for $207,200. Christine Walter of Richardson Kleiber Walter handled the sale.

× Bayview Realty Inc. leased 800 square feet of office space at 635A N. Tamiami Trail, Nokomis, from Park Isles Properties. Christine Walter of Richardson Kleiber Walter handled the transaction.

× The Sarasota County sheriff leased 800 square feet of office space at 625B N. Tamiami Trail, Nokomis, from Park Isles Properties. Christine Walter of Richardson Kleiber Walter handled the transaction.

× Frank Coon, broker-owner of CareFree Homes & Realty PA, and Joanne Dickinson, a Toronto attorney and owner of HawkStone Concepts LLC and HawkStone Properties LLC, have joined forces to form CareFree Realty LLC. CareFree Realty will open its first Sarasota office, 8065 Beneva Road, this month. CareFree Realty will open a second office in the Avanti Professional Center, 3040 University Parkway, in December. CareFree Realty will operate as a full-service real estate company with residential, commercial, business and new homes divisions.

× Greg Chona, d/b/a Raymond James Financial, has leased 650 square feet at 8486 S. Tamiami Trail in Sarasota from Larry and Barbara Hankin. Rico Boeras of Preferred Commercial handled the transaction.

× Kuefler Air Conditioning, USSI Settling & Sealing Products, and American Water Treatment have all leased space in Sarasota Business Center, located off I-75 and Jacaranda Boulevard.