Click to view original article on The Herald Tribune by John Hielscher
The Bradenton Financial Center, the tallest building in the city, sold Friday for $14.95 million.
Savlan Capital, a Hollywood-based real estate investment company, acquired the 12-story building at 1401 W. Manatee Ave.
The 33-year-old building, with 116,839 square feet, was 90% leased at the time of sale, with major tenants including Mauldin Jenkins, Workforce Business Services, Fisher-Rosemount Systems, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley.
“Bradenton Financial Center was an ideal match for our investment strategy,” said Zusha Tenenbaum, chief excutive officer at Savlan Capital. “We look for Class A properties that present value-add opportunities in great locations with a sustainable and well-diversified tenant base. This asset met all those criteria with an irreplaceable location, a strong tenant mix, below-market rents and room for occupancy growth.”
The new owner said it will invest “significant capital” into the property for exterior renovations and common area improvements.
The center was sold by BFC Bradenton LLC, which bought the property from a lender in 1991 for $6 million, according to county records. BFC is a Bradenton company managed by Thomas A. Howze of Bradenton and Donald F. Simpson of Alexandria, Virginia.
The 1.18-acre site includes a five-story parking garage connected via skybridge with the main structure.
Savlan Capital said the building is “ideally positioned” to capitalize on recent developments in the downtown area, such as the new 120-room Spring Hill Suites by Marriott, the 302-unit Allure of Bradenton multi-family community, the $12 million expansion of The Bishop Museum of Science and Nature, and the $10 million Manatee Chamber of Commerce and city parking garage project.
The center is the eighth asset in the buyer’s commercial real estate portfolio, which contains multifamily, flex business park and office assets in Florida and Texas. The company says it has recently acquired more than one-half million square feet of commercial property and intends to add more by targeting population- and job-growth markets in South Florida, Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Atlanta and Dallas.
SVN Commercial Advisory Group’s Debra Cooper and Angela Varga have been named leasing agents for the center.
The Cushman & Wakefield Capital Markets team of Rick Brugge, Mike Davis and Rick Colon represented both seller and buyer in the transaction.
