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One of the larger retail commercial real estate deals of the last year in the Sarasota-Manatee market comes with a somewhat surprising twist: The broker who facilitated the sale is a newcomer to the Gulf Coast.
In an industry that retains a strong hold on deals done by old relationships, that says something. The agent in this sale, a $2.85 million deal for a 19,000-square-foot strip mall in north Manatee County, is Larry Richards. He previously worked with Sperry Van Ness Blackpoint Realty, but is now with KW Commercial, a unit of Keller Williams.
Richards brokered a sale of the Allris Plaza, on U.S. 301 North in Parrish. Tenants at the plaza, which was 91% occupied at closing, include a pool store, a gym, an Italian restaurant and a medical office. Sarasota real estate investor Sam Sciturro and two of his children bought the plaza from the original developer.
Richards, who moved to the Sarasota area last summer after a 20-year commercial real estate career in New Hampshire, says the key to the sale puts truth to the post-bubble commercial real estate axiom: Price really does matter. “While commercial transactions are still very low,” says Richards, “sales like this, when priced right, are encouraging signs of life.”
The Allris Plaza sold for $151 per square foot.
A few other recent deals in Manatee County have approached the $2.85 million sale price, but most of those were for single-tenant properties.
Richards tells Coffee Talk that past price, the deal came together through networking. Richards has immersed himself in industry breakfast and lunch meetings around town, where he gets to know the dealmakers.
At one of those meetings Richards and some other brokers with Sperry Van Ness spoke with Re/Max Alliance Group broker Charles Palmeri, who brought the potential deal to Sciturro.
Richards built his first commercial real estate career in Nashua, N.H. He closed at least 325 deals there worth more than $120 million, he says, mostly by working for local and national developers.
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