River Club Plaza piece sells

EAST COUNTY — A new East County commercial node has captured the attention and financial interest of a privately owned development company.

Unicorp National Development, based in Orlando, purchased a portion of River Club Plaza, at 5770 Ranch Lake Blvd., Bradenton, late last month for $7.35 million from Casto Development, doing business as Casvak River Club LLC.

The retail development, located at the southeast corner of Interstate 75 and State Road 70, includes 29,000 square feet of retail space on about 4.8 acres immediately adjacent to the new S.R. 70 Walmart location. Walmart still owns its building and 22-acre property.

“Our company is in the acquisition mode, and we are purchasing properties that are good properties, well located,” Unicorp’s owner Chuck Whittall said. “We like that this is the shadow anchor of a Super Walmart. We like the tenant lineup, and we thought there was great (revenue) growth potential.”

The two buildings Unicorp purchased, aligned in an “L” configuration immediately west of the Walmart store, are 100% leased. Stores include Popi’s Place on the Ranch, Mattress One, Hair Cuttery and Amscot, among others.

Unicorp has acquired 30 properties in the last one-and-a-half years, including properties in Brandon.
Whittall said Unicorp would consider purchasing future commercial nodes from Casto in the future.

But, for now, the plaza will operate as normal. Casto will continue managing it for the first year, Whittall said.

By the numbers
0 - Number of vacancies in the retail center Unicorp purchased
4.8 - Number of acres of the site
29,000 - In square feet, amount of commercial space purchased
$7.35 - million In dollars, purchase price for the site

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].