CEC Controls Co. buys Palmetto facility

BUYER: Palmetto Properties 1751 LLC (managers: Robert Scheper, Kenneth Just, Michael Palo and James Hough), Palmetto
SELLER: AAA Architectural Elements and Coatings Inc.
PROPERTY: 1751 12th St. E., Palmetto

PRICE: $850,000
PREVIOUS PRICE: $194,000, October 2000
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Kaklis Venable & Witt PA, Bradenton

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:
Warren, Mich.-based CEC Controls Co. Inc. purchased a 20,020-square-foot flex building for $850,000.

The price equated to $42 per square foot. That figure is lower than the two-year average price per square foot for industrial space ($104) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

The Palmetto building was constructed in 2001 and occupies a 1.48-acre site.

CEC Controls Co. has leased the office and warehouse building for a little under three years. It decided to exercise an option in the lease to buy the building at a pre-arranged price.

Jeff Button of Richardson Kleiber Walter Kleiber Button Inc. and Susan Goldstein, Robert Kolton and Roberta Kolton of Michael Saunders & Co. handled the transaction.

“This [deal] was negotiated three years ago when we were begging people to get in there,” Button says. “That price was set during the downturn and there was also a credit for part of the rent. If we sold it today, it would go for a lot more money.”

CEC Controls specializes in process-control systems. It has 10 U.S. locations, including in Bradenton, and two international locations.