Renovated Venice warehouse complex sells for $8 million

A Venice warehouse and self-storage complex has sold for $8 million, after the owner put $1 million into renovations. 

Located at 249 Seaboard Ave., the 2.2-acre site contains seven buildings. The property includes 53,590 square feet of leasable warehouse and self-storage space, totaling 120 units. 

General contractors, auto mechanics, personal storage users and subcontractors are among the current tenants, according to a statement. Units range from 300 to 1,500 square feet.

Seller Frank Giuffre bought the warehouse complex for $7 million in September 2023 through F&H Properties Sarasota LLC, according to Sarasota County property records. The commercial real estate flipper owns the company with his wife.

Over the past several years, Giuffre worked with Robbins Commercial Real Estate COO and senior partner Troy Robbins, who assisted with buying and selling the property.

"The $7 million initial purchase was for the entire portfolio, which includes two additional parcels that were already sold before this $8 million transaction," Robbins says in an email. "The other two transactions that were sold were buildings located at 249 Warfield and 320 Warfield Ave. The initial purchase for just this one parcel that we just sold for $8 million had an initial price at $4,295,000. The total sale volume for all three parcels came to $12 million."

Robbins also helped manage commercial leasing for the property at 249 Seaboard Ave.

“When Troy helped me to purchase this property in 2023, it had a lot of potential but needed work both in terms of renovations, tenant mix and coming up to market rates,” Giuffre says in a statement. Since then, the property has undergone a “major but necessary overhaul, all while allowing the tenants there to continue to successfully run their businesses.”

A new maintenance/manager office was constructed on-site, equipped with touchscreen technology and integrated property management software. In addition, the bathrooms were renovated, electrical systems were updated, steel beams were replaced, the exterior was painted and LEDs were installed throughout the complex.

“My team and I focused on bringing in new tenants and working with existing tenants through a major $1 million renovation,” Robbins says in a statement. “The improvements have given tenants a worthy place to operate their businesses all while making the overall property a valuable long-term investment with little to no capital improvements needed for a new owner.”

The buyer of the Venice warehouse and self-storage complex is SRQ Property Investments LLC, which is based in St. Louis, according to Sarasota County property records. The transaction closed Jan. 20.

This article has been updated to include additional comment from Robbins Commercial Real Estate COO and senior partner Troy Robbins, clarifying that 249 Seaboard Ave. was part of a three-parcel portfolio when it was purchased in 2023.