City of Venice pays $11.8 million for former car dealership

The city of Venice has closed on the former Douglas Jeep dealership property and will relocate its solid waste, recycling and fleet maintenance operations to the site. 

The property at 1280 U.S. 41 Bypass S. sold for $11.8 million. The sale closed Sept. 3. 

Douglas Jeep, which has moved to 2372 S. Tamiami Trail, bought the site in 2018 for $2.4 million, according to Sarasota County property records. 

In addition to the purchase price, the city will make about $1 million in updates to the site to accommodate the new use. These include securing the perimeter, installing new fuel tanks, adding more restrooms and putting in additional walls. 

The purchase includes 4.7-acres and a 37,000-square-foot building. About $250,000 of the purchase price goes toward the purchase of personal property including office furniture, vehicle lifts and other fleet maintenance equipment. 

Sarasota commercial real estate firm Ian Black Real Estate brokered this sale, with Jag Grewal and Michelle Fuller representing the city. Terry Purdy of Merritt Real Estate represented Douglas Jeep. 

Grewal says the city originally planned to build its own 40,000-square-foot facility but the projected cost was $20 million — making buying and upgrading a property a more cost-effective option.