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Commercial RE Briefs
by Sean Roth | Real Estate Editor
TAMPA BAY
First Tampa Development buys land
BUYER: First Tampa Hillsborough Bayou LLC (principal: Dimitri Artzibushev), Tampa
SELLER: Tampa Bayou LLC
PROPERTY: 12701 W. Hillsborough Ave. and 12640 Memorial Highway, Tampa
PRICE: $2.98 million
PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Dimitri Artzibushev's Tampa-based First Tampa Development Co. purchased 9.1 acres of land, zoned for mobile home community usage, and an additional 6.34 acres of vacant commercial land in Tampa for about $3 million. Company officials reported that First Tampa Development plans to partner with Rottlund Homes Florida to build a townhome community on the site. First Tampa Development previously partnered with Rottlund Homes to develop the 90-townhome gated Palmbrooke Townhomes in Pinellas Park.
First Tampa Development has a staple of seven on-going projects, including the 156-unit Broadway Centre Townhomes, a mile south of Interstate 75 and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. exit; Oakwood Terrace Townhomes, a 184 unit townhome project also with Rottlund Homes on Brandon Boulevard and Millpond shops, an office and retail development planned for S.R. 54 in New Port Richey.
Artzibushev also runs a Tampa real estate brokerage called Artzibushev & Co.
Capital Realty Investors buys building in Hidden River Park
BUYER: C.R.I. Hidden River LLC, Tampa
SELLER: Miltex Property Inc.
PROPERTY: 8900 Grand Oak Circle in Hidden River Corporate Park, Tampa
PRICE: $8.6 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $6.7 million, May 2001
PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Tampa-based commercial real estate investment firm Capital Realty Investors LLC purchased a three-story, 68,000-square-foot, Class A office building in the Hidden River Corporate Park for $8.6 million.
"We really feel that market has improving fundamentals," Ben Wacksman, president of Capital Realty Investors, says of that area of Tampa. "We see the occupancy and rental rates going in the right direction. When we bought the building it was empty. We're going to be announcing new leases over the next three to six months."
The about 12-year-old 8900 Grand Oak, now being called Grand Oak Plaza, was formerly the headquarters for Washington Mutual Finance. The company relocated in 2005.
Capital Realty Investors purchased the property for $126 per square foot, below the typical median sale price of $141 per square foot for office space in Tampa, according to Marcus & Millichap.
"This is just part of our ongoing strategy of acquiring undervalued assets and improving them," Wacksman says.
8900 Grand Oak is at the entrance to the Hidden River Corporate Park on the north side of Fletcher Avenue, the northern border of the University of South Florida.
Shortly before the Grand Oak Plaza purchase, Capital Realty Investors sold the 216,000-square-foot Hopewell Industrial Center at 1201 Old Hopewell Road in Tampa to Weingarten Realty Investors for $8.9 million.
Capital Realty Investors also owns an office property in North Tampa, Palm Lake at Tampa Palms, an 86,000-square-foot building that it purchased in 2004.
Capital Realty Investors mortgaged 8900 Grand Oak to State Farm Bank for $8.76 million.
Directed Capital Resources' company buys four Taco Bells
BUYER: DCR Real Estate III Sub 1 LLC (principals: Christopher Moenche and Fred Razook Jr.), St. Petersburg
SELLER: Guerrieri Management Inc.
PROPERTY: 11007 N. Dale Mabry Highway, 2031 E. Bearss Ave., 22744 S.R. 54, Lutz, and 5406 Bruce B Downs Blvd., Wesley Chapel,
PRICE: $5.5 million
PLANS, DESCRIPTION: A company owned by Christopher Moenche and Fred Razook Jr., partner/owners of the St. Petersburg-based mortgage investment firm Directed Capital Resources LLC, purchased four Taco Bell restaurant properties in the Tampa Bay area from local Taco Bell franchisee Guerrieri Management Inc. Directed Capital Resources typically makes its money buying performing and sub-performing commercial mortgages pools for less than the value of the underlying collateral. Neither partner returned calls for comment about the acquisition.
Etc...
• Meridian-HRCF Sunplex LLC purchased the 213,474-square-foot, four-building office/warehouse Sunplex Business Center at 4400, 4600, 4800 and 4825 140th Ave. N., Clearwater, from Sunplex Operating Associates LP for $17 million. James Moler of The Ross Realty Group Inc. handled the transaction. Ross Realty Group has been leasing the property for Sunplex Operating Associates since April 2005 and improved the occupancy rate from 62% to 100%.
• TIAA-CREF Global Real Estate, one of the largest institutional real-estate investors in the nation, purchased the East Lake Woodlands 140,103-square-foot shopping center in Palm Harbor from Weingarten Realty Investors as part of seven center purchase - 1,259,00 square feet - totaling $325 million.
• Regional Financial Co. purchased a building, at 3010 N. U.S. Highway 301, Tampa, from Rivergate LLC for $8 million.
• C.C.S. Medical leased 60,000 square feet of office space in Sunplex Business Center at 4800 N. 140th Ave., Clearwater, from Meridian Development Group. James Moler of the Ross Realty Group represented the landlord.
• TMH Investments LLC purchased a 6,000-square-foot industrial space at 14100 Honeywell, Clearwater, from Edgardo and Nerida Zambrano. Tom Pizurie of the Ross Realty Group represented the seller
• Global TPA LLC leased 9,000-square-feet of office space in Airport Business Center IV at 14450 46th Street N., Clearwater, from Nadip ABC LLC. James Moler of the Ross Realty Group represented the landlord.
• P&A Holdings leased 2,598 square feet in Shady Oaks Plaza at 14924-28 N. Florida Ave., Tampa from Shady Oaks Plaza. Patty Malia, RPA of the Ross Realty Group represented the landlord.
• B&K Cabinets Inc. leased 3,026 square feet of industrial space at 12545 44th Street N., Clearwater, from Bayside Industrial Park LLC. Christine Hulbert of the Ross Realty Group represented the landlord.
• National Paymaster Inc. leased 8,064 square feet of office space at 14450 46th Street N., Clearwater, from Nadip ABC LLC. James Moler of the Ross Realty Group represented the landlord.
• Coastal Ceramic leased 4,000 square feet of industrial space at 10491 75th Street N., Largo, from Building One LLC. Tom Pizurie of the Ross Realty Group represented the landlord.
• S&R Performance LLC leased 6,000 square feet of industrial space 9507-A Trask St., Tampa, from Hard Asphalt LLC. Patty Malia of the Ross Realty Group represented the landlord.
• Citrus Health Care leased 2,210 square feet of office space at 5415 Mariner St., Tampa, from Naidip Capital. Sue Leonard of the Ross Realty Group represented the landlord.
• Tel-Connect leased 3,200 square feet of retail space from MVB Group Inc. Mike Myers of the Ross Realty Group represented the landlord.
• Wachovia Mortgage leased 2,400 square feet of retail space from MAS Orfus Inc. Mike Myers of the Ross Realty Group represented the landlord.
• Carlson Hotels Worldwide acquired the 82-room Country Inn & Suites By Carlson-Tampa North, owned by Impact Properties IX LLC, as part of a nine-hotel acquisition.
• Sun Realty Partners LLC purchased the 40,629-square-foot Homelife Building at 5403 N. Church St. in Tampa from Naidip Capital for $2.78 million. Mike Myers of the Ross Realty Group Inc. represented the seller.
• Gordon Street Developments LLC purchased 30 acres of residential land in Plant City from M/I Homes of Tampa LLC for $2.3 million.
• The Tampa office of Ardaman & Associates, a leading geotechnical engineering and environmental services firm, was selected by Clark Construction Group LLC of Tampa to provide services for the new $116-million intelligence center at MacDill Air Force Base. The four-story structure will be 269,000 square feet. Ardaman's $260,000 contract will provide engineering and supervision of probe borings for the structure, pile installation monitoring and testing, special inspection, and construction materials testing.
• Jacksonville-based Ervin Lovett & Miller has been hired as the architect and landscape architect for Taylor Woodrow's Winthrop community in southeastern Tampa.
• The Clearwater office of Mechanical Services Inc. announced its Projects Group completed $90,000 of fast-track heating, ventilation and air conditioning work at Kennedy Center, 5100 West Kennedy Blvd., Tampa, for Bayshore Properties. The 78,000-square-foot project included installation of a high-tech Tour Andover Controls system to automate the existing chiller plant, which improves system performance and reduces the building's total ownership costs. The new automation provides digital control and monitoring via the Internet.
LEE/COLLIER
Investors pushing to annex Pine Island parcels
BUYER: DelPrado-Corbett LLC (principal: Stephen Haywood), Cape Coral
SELLER: Sheila Bechert and John Keefe as personal representatives of the Estate of Charles Bechert II
PROPERTY: 2750 N.E. Pine Island Road, North Fort Myers
PRICE: $2.61 million
SELLER: Devin Benjamin
PROPERTY: 2700 N.E. Pine Island Road, North Fort Myers
PRICE: $1.4 million
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Moody Jones & Montefusco PA, Plantation
PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Fort Myers Realtor Stephen Haywood and his business partner, Dan Kelly, an owner of Gulfstream Development Group LLC, purchased about nine acres of vacant grazing land on Pine Island Road for more than $4 million. According to Haywood, the partners have now accumulated a total of about 70 acres in that area, but are being held up awaiting a government approval before they can develop it.
"We're trying to annex that entire area into the city [of Fort Myers], which would allow us to access city utilities and grant us additional density," Haywood says. "The problem is [Lee County] is threatening to sue to stop it. It really makes sense to us that it should be part of the city because the areas on both sides of us have been annexed into the city, but we'll just have to wait and see what happens."
Haywood did not comment on the future use for the property.
DelPrado-Corbett LLC mortgaged both of the new parcels to First National Bank of Pennsylvania for $2.61 million.
Croci North America buys land for future expansion
BUYER: Croci Real Estate LLC (principals: Vittorio and Cesare Croci and Gil Morzaniga), Fort Myers
SELLER: Mak One LLC
PROPERTY: 11661 Metro Parkway, Fort Myers
PRICE: $7.45 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $2.96 million
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Siesky Pilon Wood & Potter, Naples
PLANS, DESCRIPTION: The Fort Myers-based hurricane-shutter manufacturer Croci North America, previously known as American Shutter Products, purchased about 16 acres of grazing land on Metro Parkway for $7.45 million. Gil Morzaniga, CEO of Croci North America, and his partners selected the property as the future headquarters for the manufacturer. The company currently owns two buildings, one of 23,000 square feet and the second of 30,000 square feet, within a mile of each other with no additional developable land to expand.
"We were looking all over Fort Myers," Morzaniga says. "It's tough to find something of that size; let alone something so close. This is just three blocks away from our [6360] Topaz Court building. Even better, there is all that extra traffic; Metro Parkway is just a great place to put a business. It was just a unique opportunity."
Croci North America officials plan to develop a 120,000-square-foot office warehouse building on the vacant Metro Parkway site. Morzaniga expects the approval and construction process to take about two years.
"We've just been growing so quickly," Morzaniga says. "I'm nut sure yet what we are going to do with the two smaller buildings. We'll probably either sell them or we may want to keep them if we keep growing the way we are."
Croci North America mortgaged the vacant property to Wachovia Bank NA for $4.8 million.
Developers buy Bonita Beach property for Bellezza Shoppes
BUYER: Bellezza Shoppes of Bonita LLC (principals: Jerry Holly, Robert and Michelle Barber, Eileen Ishikawa and Julie Karpan) Micanopy
SELLER: Paul Ritter Jr. as personal representative of the Estate of James Benet
PROPERTY: 12721 Bonita Beach Road S.E., Bonita Springs
PRICE: $1.77 million
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Larry Echols PA, Fort Myers Beach
PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Five investors purchased a two-acre parcel on Bonita Beach Road near Interstate 75 for $1.77 million and plan to develop a 22,000-square-foot retail center called Bellezza Shoppes. According to one of the owners, Jerry Hall, the planned retail center was the brainchild of Dave Bartley, broker/owner of Naples-based Bartley Realty Services. Spaces in the Mediterranean-style retail development, which will start at 1,200 square feet, are being listed for $22 per square foot. The project is still being permitted.
The development group, Bellezza Shoppes of Bonita LLC, mortgaged the property to Flagstar Bank FSB for $3.4 million.
Etc...
• Bill Berke purchased a freestanding 2,600-square-foot mixed-use building in downtown Fort Myers at 1853 Victoria Ave. from Matthew Parsons for $300,000. Bob Pekol of VIP Commercial-TCN Worldwide handled the transaction.
• Alice T. Sterman Saving Trust, Lisa Black, Trustee purchased a 3,166-square-foot office/warehouse duplex at 1013-1015 S.E. 10th Street, Cape Coral from Gary Traylor for $483,050. Cathleen Jacobson of Coldwell Banker Commercial NRT and Fredrick Kolb of Century 21 Sunbelt Realty Inc. handled the transaction.
• AXSA Document Solutions Inc. leased 3,600-square-foot office in the Daniels-Metro Park of Commerce at 6300-6360 Techster Blvd., Fort Myers from McGregor Properties Partnership. Paul A. Sands and Tiffany Palmer of VIP Commercial-TCN Worldwide negotiated the lease.
SARASOTA/MANATEE
Retailer Marco Destin buys St. Armands store
BUYER: 1000 Highway 98 East Corp. (principals; Tabib Eliezer, Jay Arden, Maritza Salgado and Dror Levy), Miami
SELLER: P.B. Wildlife LLC
PROPERTY: 462 John Ringling Blvd. and 440 St. Armands Circle, Sarasota
PRICE: $6.2 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $2.5 million and $2.2 million, November 1999
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Cohen Norris Scherer Weinberger & Wolmer, North Palm Beach
PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Miami-based retail chain Marco Destin Inc. purchased its 13,000-square-foot Beach Unlimited store on St. Armands Circle.
According to Dror Levy, vice president, Marco Destin recently completed its fifth year leasing the store location and decided to exercise its option to buy the site.
"This was just part of our long-term ambitions," Levy says. "We own most of our other properties already."
Now, the company is considering its options for the building.
"We're going to see what the zoning will allow' Levy says. "We'll see if we would be allowed a second floor. We might end up dividing it or even putting in a restaurant. It just all depends on what the best future use is for the building."
Marco Destin operates a chain of 36 tourist/beachwear related stores, mainly in Florida, under the banners of Alvins Island, Beach Unlimited and Wings.
Marco Destin mortgaged the St. Armands Circle property to Wachovia Bank NA for $6.2 million.
Developers buy S.R. 70 land for Lion's Gate Development
BUYER: Lion's Gate Gateway Development Inc., Bradenton
SELLER: Creekwood Investors Ltd.
PROPERTY: lots 1 and 2, Creekwood East, S.R. 70, Bradenton
PRICE: $2.16 million
PREVIOUS PRICE:
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Grimes Goebel Grimes Hawkins Gladfelter & Galvano PL, Bradenton
PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Former Michael Saunders & Co. commercial agent Karen Cook and her husband, developer Gary Moyer, purchased property on S.R. 70 just east of Interstate 75 at the entrance to Rosedale Golf and Country Club. The couple plans to build the Lion's Gate Development, a 30,000-square-foot, two-building retail/office condo complex with an additional outparcel building site targeted toward a bank branch.
"We're still in for permitting," Cook says. "We're hoping to start by the end of year. We are shooting to be finished by August."
Cook, who left Michael Saunders & Co. to market her own developments as Lion's Gate Real Estate Group, is listing the 16-condo units pre-construction for $375 a square foot. Leases are also being offered for $28 a square foot.
Cook and Moyer, who are already part owners in the San Marco Plaza development in Lakewood Ranch, are expected to announce several other planned developments in the coming months.
Benderson Development revisiting Park of Commerce
Benderson Development is reexamining it plans for Sarasota Interstate Park of Commerce after Sarasota County commissioners deadlocked in a vote to approve the rezoning of 276 acres east of the new Super Target on University Parkway, just west of Interstate 75 in Sarasota.
Benderson had plans for developing the Sarasota Interstate Park of Commerce into a major shopping hub, which also was to include housing and hotels, but the large Manatee County developer will get to persuade the commission at a board meeting on Jan. 23.
Commissioner Nora Patterson, who acted as chairman, explained that the continuance would allow Benderson to scale down the project as well as give them a chance to get the three votes needed for the project to pass. New commissioner Joe Barbetta will be the fifth vote in January.
Commissioner Shannon Staub, who voted in favor of the rezoning, said the biggest problems Patterson and Jon Thaxton raised dealt with traffic and the amount of retail space proposed. Traffic studies confirmed that the mega retail center would create about 41,000 more trips per day.
"It's inconceivable to me to think we could add all these trips and have a functioning University Parkway," Thaxton told the East County Observer. "I think it is on the verge of problematic today without another sixty-some thousand trips."
Thaxton also said University Parkway, with its six lanes, is widened to capacity. And, with the long-range plan already projecting deficiencies, he couldn't see making it even worse.
Patterson's biggest concern with the rezone was Benderson's plans to take 788,000 square feet of light manufacturing and office space and replace 688,000 of it with retail space.
As proposed, the plan included 1.9 million square feet of retail space, but Benderson argued that the commission already had approved 600,000 square feet.
-Reporting by Bill Rosenberger
Gold Coast Eagle Distributing completes purchase
BUYER: Mountain Ventures Lakewood LLC, Sarasota
SELLER: Lakewood Ranch Corporate Park Inc.
PROPERTY: tracts 10 and 16, Lakewood Ranch Corporate Park, unit 5A
PRICE: $4.66 million
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Grimes Goebel Grimes Hawkins Gladfelter & Galvano PL, Bradenton
PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Manatee and Sarasota counties' Anheuser-Busch and Corona distributor Gold Coast Eagle Distributing has completed its expected purchase of 22 acres in Lakewood Ranch for $4.66 million. Earlier this month, Gold Coast Eagle sold its 10-acre distribution facility on 47th Street in Sarasota to Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated with plans to lease the Sarasota location back from Coke for the next two years. Construction is expected to begin early next year on Gold Coast Eagle's new 150,000-square-foot Lakewood Ranch center. The new distribution facility will feature 20,000 square feet of office space, a 7,000-square-foot conference center and a beer garden.
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