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Gulf Coast real estate investor Henry Rodriguez wants to get out of land and put his money in buildings, and he'd like to goose the strategy shift with a $25 million nudge.
That nudge, Rodriguez hopes, will come in a sale of a 243-acre tract of land he owns in Nokomis, in mid-Sarasota County. The land, which has density rights for 1,850 homes, is at State Road 681 and U.S. 41. Rodriguez, through the Sarasota office of Sperry Van Ness Commercial Advisory Group, listed the property for $25.8 million.
It's a steep price, to be sure, considering the recession. But Rodriguez and Sperry Van Ness broker Michael Gallatin are buoyed by what they say is significant interest on the land from national homebuilders. Rodriguez and Gallatin declined to name names of interested parties, though Gallatin says six to eight of the nation's top 10 homebuilders have made inquiries. That top 10 list includes Ryland Group, D.R. Horton and Pulte Homes.
Gallatin says he will market the site through the Sperry Van Ness network, and he also might take out an ad in the Wall Street Journal. And Rodriguez tells Coffee Talk he wants to sell the land as one tract. “We don't want to piecemeal it out,” he says. “I'm an investor, not a developer.”
Rodriguez says the listing is part of a strategy to move his holdings to real estate properties from land, so he can take advantage of lower prices. He even launched capital funds earlier this year to purchase distressed commercial real estate properties on the Gulf Coast and the I-4 corridor. “The commercial real estate market,” he says, “has some great opportunities for the foreseeable future.”
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