Commercial Real Estate Briefs

By Business Observer Staff
| 6:00 p.m. October 9, 2008
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Charlotte–Lee–Collier

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE LEE-COLLIER by Sean Roth | Real Estate Editor

Origin Capital buys 14 Lee County homes

BUYER: Origin Capital VII LLC (principals: Michael Episcope, Michael Grillo, David Scherer), Chicago

SELLER: Centris Federal Credit Union

PROPERTY: 2204 N.E. 15th Ave., 1927 N.E.33rd St., 2234 N.W. Eighth Terrace, 302 N.E. 17th St., 1110 N.W. 29th Terrace, 1624 N.W. Eighth Place, 2104 N.W. 24th Ave. and 2817 N.E. Fourth Place, Cape Coral and 3303 36th St. W., 1048 Maxwell Ave. S., 1084 Plantation Road, 726 Brazos St. E., 839 Newell St. E. and 4626 Joan Ave. N., Lehigh Acres

PRICE: $928,749.36

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Pedersen Hamann & Strasheim LLP, Omaha, Neb.

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Origin Capital VII, an investment fund managed by Chicago-based Origin Capital Partners LLC purchased 14 new homes - six in Lehigh Acres and eight in Cape Coral - from Centris Federal Credit Union for $928,749.36, equal to an average of $66,339 per home. The most recent purchase was just part of a staggered acquisition of some 65 homes from the credit union for $4.28 million.

"These are homes that were owned by speculators, who decided to just walk away," says Michael Episcope, president of Origin Capital Partners. "Somehow they ceded them back to the credit union, whether it was through a deed in lieu [of foreclosure or otherwise.] So the credit union needed to get them off its books."

Episcope says the fund will look to either sell or lease the homes. Its strategy is to hold the rentals for another five to 10 years before selling them. The Origin Capital fund bought another 31 homes in Lee County back in May, which made the recent 65 additional properties attractive, Episcope says.

"We're a capital company and that allowed us the ability to get these homes closed quickly," Episcope says. "We did this in 20 business days, including the appraisals. This is not something that we could do across multiple markets. We're still looking to buy other portfolios there."

Origin Capital VII houses $20 million of equity under management, which Origin Capital Partners plans to leverage into $50 million of investments.

Sellstate Professional Realty

owners buy North Cape Centre

BUYER: Kenneth and Gene Bracher, Cape Coral

SELLER: Centerville LLC as trustee for the North Cape Center Trust

PROPERTY: 236 Del Prado Blvd. N., Cape Coral

PRICE: $1.14 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $895,000, June 2003

TITLE FIRM ON DEED: Stewart Title Co., Cape Coral

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Ken and Gene Bracher, owners of the Cape Coral-based real estate brokerage Sellstate Professional Realty Inc., purchased the North Cape Centre, an 8,000-square-foot retail strip center north of Del Prado Boulevard and N.E. Second Terrace in Cape Coral, for $1.14 million. The strip center houses Allstate, Edward Jones and Sunshine Nails among others and had two vacancies at the time of the sale.

"We're going to be moving our business over there," says Ken Bracher. "We just liked where its was positioned. We thought it had a decent bunch of tenants, its condition was good and price as always was a factor."

The purchase price equated to a capitalization rate of about 8%.

Cheryl Maymon of CAM Realty represented the seller, and Tom Borgen of Sellstate represented the buyer.

The Brachers mortgaged the property to First American Bank for $914,000.

School Board of Lee County

buys 19-acre Buckingham Chase

BUYER: School Board of Lee County, Fort Myers

SELLER: JD&M Development LLC

PROPERTY: 3851 Buckingham Road, Fort Myers

PRICE: $835,002

PREVIOUS PRICE: $960,000, December 2004

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Henderson Franklin Starnes & Holt PA, Sanibel

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: The Lee County School District purchased 19 acres known as the Buckingham Chase property north of Bird Road for $835,002, equal to an average of $43,947 an acre. The district plans to land bank the property for the near future, and its unknown whether it will be used for a future school or administrative space.

"We had funds available in our capital budget and felt it was prudent from a fiscal standpoint," says Joe Donzelli, director of communications for the school district. "In the building I'm in right now [the Lee County Education Center], the buyer originally wanted $14 million. Two years and three months later we were able to buy it for just under $9 million. That's a saving of about $5 million just for waiting. Even if we weren't gaining any more students we will still have to build a couple more schools just to meet the class-size amendment."

The school district operates under separate budgets for operations and capital improvements. Deficits in the operations budget have led the school district to eliminate a number of positions. The capital budget cannot legally be applied to operations, such as employee salaries and benefits.

BCBE renovating

Village on Venetian Bay

Boran Craig Barber Engel Construction Co. Inc. is remodeling The Village on Venetian Bay and renovating the former Maxwell's on the Bay into the new M Waterfront Grille.

The Village on Venetian Bay, a shopping village in Naples' Park Shore area, originally opened with 40 stores in the late 1980s. A second phase of 20 additional stores followed in 1990. Now the complex is undergoing a facelift, the exterior of every boutique, specialty shop, gallery, and restaurant is receiving a new coat of paint, all of the covered walkways and some of the existing canopies are being renovated, and the terra cotta flooring is being replaced.

ETC...

• Gracie Bara Martial Arts Studio leased 2,450 square feet at 11536 Tamiami Trail E., Naples. Harry Looknanan Jr. of Sperry Van Ness and Kevin Fitzgerald of NAI Southwest Florida handled the transaction.

• W. Bradley Cooper Jr., CPA leased 2,056 square feet at 8250 College Parkway, Fort Myers from SF LeVan Asset Management. Harry Looknanan Jr. of Sperry Van Ness represented the tenant.

• Fort Myers-based Creighton Construction & Management completed construction of Creighton Plaza at 1806 Del Prado Blvd., Cape Coral. The new plaza will house Educators Music and Wireless Toys. The stores are scheduled to open in the fourth quarter.

• J.L. Wallace Inc. has been awarded a contract by Allardt Enterprises to build a Tuffy Automotive Center at U.S. 41 and Airport Road in Punta Gorda. The project will include a 5,113-square-foot concrete-block building with pre-engineered metal roof, glass roll-down doors with hurricane screen, split face block, and complete site work.

• Jan-Pro of Southwest Florida leased 2,900 square feet of office space at 6381 Corporate Park Circle, unit 1 from Landlink Group Inc. Gary Tasman and Scott Robertson of Cushman & Wakefield in Fort Myers represented the landlord, and Derek Bornhorst of Grubb & Ellis| 1st Commercial represented the tenant in this transaction.

• Team RDR Investments purchased a 9,555-square-foot light-industrial building on 0.8-acre fenced site at 2738 Crag Street, Fort Myers from Sun Tech Properties Inc. for $400,000. Chuck Smith of Boback Commercial Group at Re/Max Edge negotiated the transaction.

• Landscape Dimensions Inc., a landscape contractor, leased a 5,000-square-foot office/warehouse at 6181 Metro Plantation Road in Fort Myers from R&J Land Properties Ft. Myers LLC. Chuck Smith of Boback Commercial Group at Re/Max Edge negotiated the transaction.

• Lace & Roses Bridal leased 6,400 square feet of retail space at 11740 Metro Parkway in Fort Myers from G&M Estates USA Inc. Mary Beth Cangiano of LandQwest Commercial handled the transaction. Lace & Roses Bridal will operate a bridal and formal wear store from the new location.

• Naples Community Hospital selected Boran Craig Barber Engel Construction Co. Inc. to build out a 28,000-square-foot parking lot. The project includes site work, landscaping, concrete work, and lighting, as well as installing irrigation systems. The concrete portion includes sidewalks and handicap tactile surfaces, while the electrical work features new 30-inch, round fiberglass poles with concrete bases for site lighting. When work is complete, the lot will hold 60 vehicles.

• Boran Craig Barber Engel Construction Co. Inc. completed a three-week total interior remodel of the City of Naples Community Development Building. Located on Riverside Circle, just off Goodlette-Frank Road, the city's Planning and Zoning Permitting Department features a dozen or so employees spread across two floors. BCBE changed the layout of the existing area replacing the current cubicles with walls and windows to create new offices and a more functional work space.

• Boran Craig Barber Engel Construction Co. Inc. has been hired to build and install four catwalks over four clarifier tanks for the City of Marco Island's Marco Shores Wastewater Treatment Plant on Mainsail Drive.

• Gora/McGahey Associates in Architecture recently provided the architectural design for a new fire station on Fort Myers Beach, at 121 Lenell Road. The project included programming, planning, architectural design, interior design and construction administration for the 5,991-square-foot station. The building was designed to withstand 130 mph winds. It features an apparatus bay, bunk rooms, living quarters, kitchen and administrative offices.

• Abundant Life Fellowship of Lee County Inc. leased 2,360 square feet of office space at 4350 Fowler Street, unit 1B, Fort Myers, from ECI Healthcare Properties LLC. Tiffany Luongo of Another Coldwell Banker Commercial NRT handled the transaction.

• Kubicki & Draper PA leased 8,571 square feet of space in the Fifth Third Center I, at 13350 Metro Parkway in Fort Myers from Metro-Daniels Investors LLC. Randal. Mercer of CB Richard Ellis Fort Myers-Naples represented the landlord, and Jeff Holding of CB Richard Ellis, Fort Lauderdale represented the tenant.

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE TAMPA BAY by Sean Roth | Real Estate Editor

Colorado REIT UDR buys Vintage Lofts

BUYER: UDR of Tennessee LP (Thomas Toomey, W. Mark Wallis, Dianne Dementi, Jerry Davis, Mary Ellen Norwood and Michael Ernst), Highlands Ranch, Colo.

SELLER: MDG Zaremba Sammytown LLC

PROPERTY: 1526 W. Cypress Ave. and 1517 W. Lemon St., Tampa

PRICE: $43.67 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $6.23 million, March 2007

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Taft Stettnius & Hollister LLP, Cleveland, Ohio

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Highlands Ranch, Colo.-based real-estate investment trust UDR Inc. (formerly known as United Dominion Realty Trust Inc.) purchased the 200,000-square-foot Vintage Lofts at West End from the Cleveland, Ohio-based developer Zaremba Group for $43.67 million, equal to an average of $175,390 per unit.

The 249-unit apartment complex is schedule to start phased openings sometime this month. Units in the development are set to rent for an average of $1,544 a month.

The development is just the first in the Zaremba Group's plans for the West End development. The developer is scheduled to start construction on the 264-unit Wyndsong Apartments this fall. That complex is set to open in the summer of 2009.

Calls to UDR and the Zaremba Group were not returned prior to deadline.

As of Aug. 31, UDR owned 44,089 apartment homes and had 5,116 homes under development and another 684 homes under contract for development in its pre-sale program.

Niagara Falls, N.Y. firm

buys Fowler Pilot Bank branch

BUYER: Rainfourth Ltd. (principal: Gennaro Villella), Niagara Falls, N.Y.

SELLER: Pilot Bank

PROPERTY: 5140 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa

PRICE: $2.6 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $1.42 million, January 1995

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Gray Robinson PA, Tampa

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Niagara Falls, N.Y.-based real estate investment company Rainbow & Fourth Ltd. purchased a 6,364-square-foot Pilot Bank branch with four drive-through lanes on 1.37 acres for $2.6 million. Rainbow & Fourth owns investments in New York and California, and has recently started expanded into Florida. Earlier this year, the New York company purchased an Insignia Bank branch in Lakewood Ranch from Sarasota's K2M for $3.2 million. Rainbow & Fourth looks to acquire income producing real estate, particularly proprieties under long-term triple net leases.

Pilot Bank has agreed to a 15-year triple-net lease.

Advisory firm Bank Property Advisors LLC of Hinsdale, Ill., represented Pilot Bank in the transaction.

The purchase entity Rainfourth Ltd. mortgaged the property to Insignia Bank for $1.89 million.

BZ Properties buys, renovating Clearwater retail strip center

BUYER: BZ Southwest Properties LLC (principal: William Zapf), Lithia

SELLER: Jerard Properties Inc.

PROPERTY: 2071 and 2095 Drew St., Clearwater

PRICE: $1.51 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $1.4 million, February 2006

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Coastal Security Title of Florida Inc., Tampa

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Development, investment and management firm BZ Properties of Lithia purchased a 16,300-square-foot retail strip center in Clearwater on 0.76 acres for $1.51 million, equal to $92.64 a square foot. The center, which was originally built in 1974, housed Jose's Mexican Restaurant, Gorditas Don Huicho, Athena's Bridal Boutique, Olympus Pizza and Clearwater Color Photo. The center had two vacancies at the time for the sale for about 1,800 square feet of unoccupied space.

The purchase price equated to an 8% capitalization rate.

"We look for older properties that need some rehab," says Bill Zapf, owner/ asset manager for BZ Properties. "We replaced the roof this week, and we're planning to build an all new façade. ... and resurface and reseal the parking lot. We're modernizing it.

Zapf plans to market the vacant space for $10 a square foot triple net.

Kevin Platt with Smith & Associates Real Estate represented the seller.

BZ Southwest Properties LLC mortgaged the property to US AmeriBank for $1.28 million.

ETC...

• The Ross Realty Group has been hired to sell the Lincoln Garden Office Complex at 2901 W. Busch Blvd., Tampa. The 10-building office complex, located between Dale Mabry Highway and Interstate 275, encompasses 73,061 square feet of space and is 84% leased.

COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE sarasota-manatee by Sean Roth | Real Estate Editor

Sovereign Investment buys Ruth's Chris building

BUYER: TRT - Sovereign RC Holdco 6700 S. Tamiami Trail Sarasota LLC, Palo Alto, Calif.

SELLER: RCSH Operations LLC

PROPERTY: 6700 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota

PRICE: $3.02 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $2.6 million, August 1998

COMPANY PREPARING DEED: Ruth's Hospitality Group Inc., Heathrow

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Princeton, N.J.-based private equity-investment firm Sovereign Investment Co. purchased the 9,462-square-foot Ruth's Chris Steak House building on Tamiami Trail for $3.02 million. Ruth's Chris has agreed to leaseback the property for 20 years with two options to renew it for and additional five years each.

The sale and leaseback was part of a five restaurant agreement for $17.6 million in capital. The deal included properties in Palm Beach; Metairie, La.; Columbus, Ohio; and Palm Desert, Calif.

Sovereign Investment Co. provides sale-leaseback and development capital to owners, operators and franchisees in exchange for commercial property. The firm has invested more than $1 billion in sale-leaseback to long-term, net-leased properties nationwide.

Mosaic Fertilizer buys

270 acres from G&D Farms

BUYER: Mosaic Fertilizer LLC, Mulberry

SELLER: G&D Farms Inc.

PROPERTY: a portion of land near County Road 39 and State Road 64

PRICE: $8.7 million

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Foley & Lardner LLP, Tampa

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Mosaic Fertilizer LLC purchased 270 acres of a strawberry farm from one of Manatee County's largest landowners G&D Farms Inc. for $8.7 million, equal to an average of $32,217 an acre. The property is adjacent to Mosaic's existing Four Corners Mine and likely contains significant phosphate reserves.

"We're going to let the present tenants farm it for three years, then it will be available for possible phosphate mining," says David Townsend, assistant vice president of public affairs for Mosaic Fertilizer LLC. "There are many tons of reserves there."

As for its current political troubles and potential legal suit against the Manatee County Commission over problems with mining approvals for the Altman Tract in Duette, Townsend says the G&D Farms site shouldn't run into the same level of opposition.

"[The Altman property] is an unusual situation," he says. "The G&D property has already been heavily disrupted [environmentally] by the agricultural operations. It also contains little to no wetlands."

FDOT buys SR-64 land,

for roadway expansion

BUYER: State of Florida Department of Transportation, Tallahassee

SELLER: Richard Bennett, Timothy Lehman and Matthew Kezar as tenants in common

PROPERTY: 5603 E. State Road 64, Bradenton

PRICE: $3.3 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $1.75 million, February 2008

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: The Florida Department of Transportation purchased 2.2 acres on State Road 64 near Morgan Johnson Road just west of Interstate 75 for $3.3 million.

FDOT acquired the property as part of its plan to widen State Road 64. The project first kicked off late last year and is scheduled to continue through 2010.

"We own several pieces of property in that area so we're really pleased to see FDOT buying property to make sure the roads stay free of congestion," says Matt Kezar, one of the sellers. "It was a great site. It was a commercially zoned corner with a signal."

Last month, Richard Bennett and Kezar, purchased 32.7 acres on Morgan Johnson Road south of State Road 64 for $1.3 million.

The duo is considering developing an assisted-living facility on the property.

Sovereign Investment Co.

buys Ruth's Chris building

BUYER: TRT - Sovereign RC Holdco 6700 S. Tamiami Trail Sarasota LLC, Palo Alto, Calif.

SELLER: RCSH Operations LLC

PROPERTY: 6700 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota

PRICE: $3.02 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $2.6 million, August 1998

COMPANY PREPARING DEED: Ruth's Hospitality Group Inc., Heathrow

The sale and leaseback was part of a five restaurant agreement for $17.6 million in capital. The deal included properties in Palm Beach; Metairie, La.; Columbus, Ohio; and Palm Desert, Calif.

Etc...

• County micro surfacing

eight-neighborhood roads

About 41 miles of lane miles in eight neighborhoods in Sarasota County will be resurfaced using a micro-surfacing process under a new $1.25 million contract. The project will be funded by the penny surtax as part of the county's economic stimulus program of fast-track projects.

Neighborhoods slated for micro surfacing include Bent Tree Village, Three Oaks, Cedar Grove, Beneva Woods, Wellington Chase, The Hamptons, Stonebridge and Englewood Isles. Florida Highway Products, Inc. of Bartow is expected to begin construction in the second week of October.

Micro surfacing is expected to extend the life of the roadways by a decade at less cost than traditional hot-mix asphalt. Unlike hot-mix asphalt, micro surfacing uses a polymer-modified, cold-mixture paving process that doesn't require a petroleum solvent and, in most cases, can be used without additional heat. The process requires less energy and the asphalt emulsions in micro surfacing produce little or no hydrocarbon emissions, reducing pollution and the demand for non-renewable resources.

• The Lee Wetherington Cos. donated 16 acres in Osprey to the Internal Improvement Trust Fund of Florida as an addition to Oscar Scherer State Park. The donation was valued at $800,000, equal to $50,000 an acre.

• Fort Myers-based Direct Care Home Health Inc. leased 2,520 square feet of office space at 5272 Station Way in the Clarke Station Office Park from Hongli LLP. The new location will serve as a branch office for the nursing services company. Bob Brillon of Thomason/Brillon Interests of Countree Wide Realty Inc. handled the transaction.

• Charles & Chase Group

starts Regency House phase two

The Charles & Chase Group Inc. recently began the second phase of renovations of The Regency House, a 10-story condominium building at 435 South Gulfstream Ave. in downtown Sarasota.

This phase of the project includes the renovation of the entire 3,000-square-foot first floor, modernizing all common areas including the concierge area, the building manager's office, mailroom, library, clubroom, kitchen, fitness center and bathrooms. The Sarasota office of TRO Jung-Brannen designed the second phase of the project.

• Brooks & Freund has completed the construction on the City of North Port Family Services Center on Pan American Boulevard. The 15,000-square-foot facility houses a wide range of social services for the city. Alliance Design Group provided architectural design services.

• Truscapes Industries Inc. leased a two-acre fenced site at 3302 81st Court E., Bradenton from Prestige Corporate Headquarters - Bradenton, LLC to house a lawn maintenance business. Carl Wise of Preferred Commercial Inc. handled the transaction.

• Peek Traffic Corp. signed a 55,824-square-foot lease on 2906 Corporate Way, Gulfcoast Corporate Park in Manatee County. The traffic control product producer is currently located at 2511 Corporate Way and will make the final move to its new location in December. Bruce Vaughan at Jones Lang LaSalle represented Peek Traffic Corp. Anthony Migliore of Coldwell Banker Commercial NRT represented the landlord.

• Doctors Choice Home Care Inc. has leased 2,143 square feet of space at 4040 N. Access Road in Englewood from Cindy Johnson. Ron Struthers and Jim Eugenides, both of the Port Charlotte office of CB Richard Ellis Fort Myers-Naples handled the transaction.