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Commercial real estate broker Barry Seidel, one of the more prominent agents in several areas south of downtown Sarasota, won't buy into the doom-and-gloom line that permeates the region.
In fact, Seidel says fall and winter could be a return to glory days, or at least the beginning of a revival. “I think the pendulum is about to swing back the other way,” says Seidel. “I'm expecting to have a real good season.”
So good, Seidel will expand his office space by nearly 300%, from 1,250 square feet to 4,800 square feet. His firm, American Property Group of Sarasota, recently bought the Prudential Palms Real Estate office at 7750 S. Tamiami Trail. Seidel paid $380,000 for the property, a price reflective of both the soft market and Prudential Palms' recent contraction. (See Business Review, Aug 29.)
Seidel tells Coffee Talk he will likely spend another few hundred thousand dollars renovating the office, which is a few blocks from the smaller space he has been in since 1994. Says Seidel: “We intend to completely remodel the property and give it a brand new look.”
Seidel, who runs a nine-employee firm that includes his two sons, his daughter and his mother-in-law, hopes to move into the new space soon after Christmas. “Business is getting better,” he says, “and I'm confident in a rebound.”
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