- June 16, 2025
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Construction has started on a new career and technical education post-secondary school in Lee County. The $42 million school, the Heights CareerTech Institute, is being built in Lee’s Harlem Heights community and is at the corner of Gladiolus Drive and Pine Ridge Road. According to the Heights Foundation, which has raised $27.5 million for the project, the site has been cleared and grubbed, and workers are currently raising the elevation by trucking in about 150,000 yards of fill. Construction on the two-story school is expected to take about 16 months. When complete, the institute will offer career and technical education to about 500 students from across the region using curriculum being developed by an advisory group that includes local business owners and professionals. The group has already held its first meeting. The goal, the foundation says on its website, is for HCTI’s industry-credentialed courses to “provide pathways to high-paying, sustainable careers, directly supporting the economic growth and vitality” in the region. Harlem Heights, which is between U.S Highway 41 and San Carlos Boulevard near the barrier islands, was originally settled as a rural agricultural community. Today, the foundation says, the poverty rate for children in is more than twice the county average, with family incomes 40% below the county average.
CenterSquare Investment Management, a suburban Philadelphia real estate investor, has bought the Village at Causeway shopping center at 10284 Causeway Blvd. in Brandon. The firm, according to Hillsborough County property records, paid $12.95 million. Records show the center was previously owned by a Tampa LLC named Bisset-Hayes McGrath Dillion, which paid $1.48 million for the property in 1984. Marcus & Millichap, which represented the seller, says the center was built in 2019 and sits on 6.59-acres. The firm announced the sale though declined to identify either the seller or buyer, with a spokesperson saying in an email that “we’re not able to disclose” the names. What the firm did say is that the center was fully occupied at the time of sale by a 13-merchant tenant roster that includes Canopy Road Café, Game Over Tampa, Jimmy John’s, Strandhill Social, One Zo and PT Solutions. CenterSquare, on its website, says the Village at Causeway is 27,800 square feet and made up of two buildings. The private-equity investor owns rental housing, industrial and retail properties and operates globally with three U.S. offices and one each in London and Singapore. Marcus & Millichap’s Zach Taylor, Eric Abbott, Evan Cannan and Reid Thedford represented the seller.
A Miami real estate investment firm paid $6.12 million May 16 for a fully leased restaurant space in down St. Petersburg. Torose Equities, along with RKG Holdings and HSH Holdings Co., bought the 9,700-square-foot space at 200 1st Ave. S. that houses a Ford’s Garage restaurant. The buyers have also leased remaining space to Aji Ceviche, an upscale Latin American restaurant concept. The property was previously owned by an LLC linked to Tampa-based 23 Restaurant Services which, according to Pinellas County property records, paid $3.9 million for it in 2016. The space is on a popular corner that’s surrounded by restaurants and bars in a revitalized part of downtown. About three blocks to the east is Pioneer Park and the city’s waterfront. And to the west are two luxury towers under development — the 46-story Residences at 400 Central and the 49-story Waldorf Astoria Residences. Toroes Equity is no stranger to St. Pete real estate. In August, it paid $2.44 million for 14,000 square feet of ground of retail space at Modera St. Petersburg, an apartment tower on 17th Street. At the time, Torose said it had bought 15 properties in the market since 2017 totaling approximately 300,000 square feet of space.
A Clearwater Beach investment property is on the market in what a broker calls, in all capitals, a fire sale. The property is a six-unit multifamily apartment building at 185 Brightwater Dr. It is on Clearwater Bay facing the Intercoastal Waterway, about six blocks from the beach. According to a marketing email from Doug Thaler with Cambridge Capital Partners, the property suffered hurricane damage on the first floor and there was no insurance. It is also, according to the flyer, in pre-foreclosure. (Court records show foreclosure proceedings began April 15 and that payments haven’t been made since November. Fannie Mae, in its complaint, says it is owed $942,034.90 as of March 31). The listing price is $1.5 million. Pinellas County property records show the owner is a Monrovia, California LLC that paid $1.35 million for it in 2016.
New Pass Dock & Seawall, a Sarasota marine construction company, is opening a design center and production facility in a mixed-use space it just bought. The property is at 4139 N. Washington Blvd. and sits on 0.83 acres. New Pass paid $2.56 million for the property. It was previously owned by SignZoo, which property records show paid $310,000 for it in 2004. SignZoo outgrew the space and has relocated to two 8,000-square-foot properties — 1107 Tallevast Road in Sarasota and 901 8th Ave W. in Bradenton. New Pass’ new space, according Ian Black Real Estate, includes a 6,190-square-foot industrial flex building and a 3,060-square-foot office building. New Pass, which was founded in 2023 and specializes in custom dock design, will use the space to meet with clients to plan out docks, seawalls, boat lifts and decks. The design center is expected to open in early June. Ian Black, the Sarasota commercial real estate firm, represented both parties in the deal; Nick DeVito II and Brie Tulp represented New Pass Dock & Seawall and Amy MacDougall represented SignZoo.
Manatee County Habitat for Humanity has kicked off work on new community. The 27-home development is being built in east Bradenton just off 37th Street East. The community is called Kings Cross Place and will feature three- and four-bedroom homes that will be sold to qualifying low-income families. The 30-year mortgages on the homes will have zero interest and the payments will be between $900 per month and $1,000 per month. The nonprofit held a ceremonial groundbreaking on the property last week. In a Facebook post commemorating the event, Habitat thanked RedElk Land Co., a Tampa based land consulting firm, for “facilitating the land donation that made this project possible — the largest land gift in our history.” According to Habitat, it helped the acquisition of the 27 residential lots totaling 11.07 acres with an appraised value of $2.32 million. The first home is expected to begin construction in January with 12 homes scheduled to be completed by the end of that year.
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