- December 13, 2025
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Potential future owner of Tampa Bay Rays buys SWFL land
Could the Tampa Bay Rays be building a new stadium in Punta Gorda? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean the company owned by the baseball team’s purported new owner isn’t buying up land in the Charlotte County locality. Dream Finders Homes, the company owned by Jacksonville homebuilder Patrick Zalupski, recently closed on several vacant lots on Turnleaf Boulevard. According to Charlotte property records, the company paid $2.06 million for the land. The parcels are in Turnleaf, a 426-acre master-planned community under construction along Burnt Store Road off of Interstate 75 and U.S. 41. Dream Finders is one of the homebuilders named by the master-planned community developer that will build about 1,735 homesites there. Zalupski is leading a team of investors reportedly closing on the purchase of the Rays baseball team, possibly next month. The team has been valued at $1.7 billion. He is the founder of Dream Finders which, according to the company’s website, operates in 220 communities in 10 states and has closed on more than 38,000 homes since its founding. In 2024, the company says it closed on 8,583 homes and had pre-tax income of $438 million. As of the end of 2024, it controlled nearly 55,000 lots. Forbes magazine estimates Zalupski's net worth at $1.4 billion.
Radio station owner renovates studios
The renovation of iHeartMedia’s Fort Myers studios in the Commonwealth Building on College Parkway has been completed. The work, according to Cape Coral-based Vantage Construction Services, included a full-build out of the 3,722-square-foot space. The “studios of the future” are designed for remote broadcasting and feature soundproof doors with weather stripping that block light and sound. The ceilings are also fully soundproof and equipped with sound clouds for optimal acoustics. In addition to the work on the studios, the build out included office space and amenities for employees. The space will serve as a local broadcast hub for iHeartMedia, says the local construction firm. iHeart owns more than 870 stations in 60 markets. Its Fort Myers stations include 105.5 The Beat, 1070 The Zone, Seaview 104.9 and 95.3 The Beach.
Prominent Lakeland commercial real estate firm grows
Lakeland-based Saunders Real Estate is expanding into Tampa, with a new office on Westshore Boulevard. The office will specialize in commercial and land transactions — from industrial, office, and retail properties to agricultural, recreational, and development land. The office will be run by regional managing director Matt Christian, who will oversee a team of 12. The firm, in a statement, says the move is “designed to meet skyrocketing demand for land investment opportunities, commercial property leasing and strategic commercial real estate consulting in one of Florida’s fastest growing markets.” Saunders has been in growth mode, with its land division expanding into North Carolina earlier this year, joining Georgia, Arkansas and Alabama in non-Florida locations. Locally, Saunders is one of the preeminent commercial real estate firms in the state. Dean Saunders founded it in 1986 after four years in the State Legislature. In 2010, Saunders teamed up with Gary Ralston and R. Todd Dantzler to form a sister company, Saunders Ralston Dantzler. The two eventually merged. The company joined SVN International in 2017 and became independent again earlier this year. (Dean Saunders is known for his pioneering work on conservation easements.)
Storage facility near port sells for $37.8 million
A 32-acre industrial outdoor storage facility near Port Tampa Bay has sold. The property is at 1650 Hemlock St. in East Tampa and adjacent to the port. The buyer is Chicago private equity real estate investment firm Green Courte Partners. According to Hillsborough County property records, it paid $37.8 million. The seller is Hendry Marine Industries, Inc., which paid $4 million for it in 2005. Hendry will lease back a portion of the site, including 1,600 linear feet of marine bulkhead. Green Courte says Hendry and Moran Environmental Recovery, which is already a tenant, will use about half the property. It will redevelop the remaining 16 acres into new (industrial outdoor storage) IOS space. Green Courte was founded in 2002 and specializes in niche real estate sectors. Its holdings include investments in active-adult/independent senior living facilities, land-lease communities, industrial outdoor storage and near-airport parking.
Nearly century-old Manatee property up for sale
A Bradenton building that's home to Pelot’s Rexall Pharmacy, a business with a 130-year history in the city, is up for sale. The property is at 831 Manatee Ave. E., just east of downtown and is being marketed by its current owner, Philip Farley. It was previously listed for $3 million by NDC Commercial Real Estate, which was marketing it for redevelopment. The three-story mixed-use building has multiple storefronts and an attached parking lot. Jessica Pelot, a granddaughter of one of the founders of the pharmacy, writes in an email that the family does not own the property and that “we are not closing, only the building is up for sale.” According to the Manatee Village Historical Park, J.C. Pelot, J.J. Pelot and J.F. Stebbins formed the Manatee Drug Co. Nov. 6, 1894. It changed its name in 1925 and moved into its current Manatee Avenue location in 1934. Robert Pelot owns the pharmacy today, buying it from his father John Crews Pelot. Farley bought the property from the family in 2020 for $1.25 million, according to county property records. The building, nearly 100 years old, suffered significant damage during Hurricanes Helene and Milton last year.
$230 million financing package includes local properties
A $230 million recapitalization of an apartment community portfolio includes three local properties — in Port Richey, Fort Myers and Brandon. The financing package is for six properties made up of 1,600 units owned in a joint venture between Slate Asset Management and ZMR Capital. The Newmark Group, a commercial real estate lender, says the portfolio was on the market but a reevaluation resulted “in a capital restructuring that extended ZMR’s business plan, introduced a long-term institutional partner and injected fresh equity to support a five-year hold strategy.” The firm says the package included the introduction of joint venture equity from Slate and the placement of $169 million in senior financing from Fannie Mae. The local communities are The Boardwalk Apartments in Fort Myers; Skye Oaks in Brandon; and the Hanley Place Apartments in Port Richey. The three others are in Mableton, Georgia, Meza, Arizona, and Atlanta. Newmark’s Rick Warner, Henry Stimler, Bill Weber, Matt Mense and Nicholas arranged the financing.
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