Lakewood Ranch plaza potential unfulfilled

Helene Frudakis has a vested interest in seeing San Marco Plaza’s anchor space transform from a vacant, dirt-floor shell of a space into a thriving business.

Not only is Frudakis, the owner of Florida VIP Realty, representing the $1,195,000, 8,555-square-foot property as its third broker in two years, but she also owns three units in the plaza.

“I think I’m more passionate about this space than anybody else,” said Frudakis of the property at 8205 Natures Way, Suite 111 in Lakewood Ranch. “We’re trying to create a destination.”

In May, it will be 10 years since the San Marco Plaza opened. Its proposed anchor tenant, the now defunct Golden Apple Dinner Theater, never came to fruition, leaving the plaza without an anchor since its inception. An investment company called San Marco Anchor, a division of Massachusetts-based CRE Asset Investors, purchased the unit out of foreclosure for $810,000 in May 2015.

Since taking on the listing about two months ago, Frudakis has been courting businesses such as dinner theaters, specialty gyms, sports-entertainment facilities, breweries and performing arts halls. Prospective buyers have shown interest from all across the United States. She said a few national franchises, that she wouldn’t disclose, have shown interest.

She has used video and photos from a drone to show the plaza’s ample parking and proximity to other amenities, such as the Market Street Publix shopping center, Main Street at Lakewood Ranch and The Mall at University Town Center, and demographics in neighborhoods such as The Lake Club, Country Club East and the Lakewood Ranch Golf and Country Club.

“The drone photos give a completely different vision of the property,” Frudakis said. “We are in the heart of Lakewood Ranch,” Frudakis said. “These people don’t want to drive west of the interstate because there’s too much traffic.”

Still, the search goes on, although the effort may be paying off. Frudakis has one letter of intent, although she would not disclose the prospective buyer. She expects other letters of intent as well.

Rico Boeras, a broker for Sarasota Commercial Realty and the president of the Commercial Investment Division of the Realtor Association of Sarasota Manatee, said San Marco Plaza, which opened during the height of the real estate boom a decade ago and also weathered the subsequent recession, experienced a flurry of sales from 2011 to 2013, as the market recovered and units came back onto the market. Records show that nine units sold during that time, with prices ranging from about $115 to $193 per square foot.

The anchor space is listed at just less than $140 per square foot. For lease, it’s available for a base price of $18 per square foot.

Boeras said although the asking price is mid-range at a time when there’s high demand and low supply, the selling price may prove to be a hurdle that is hard to overcome, especially for a shell space with a dirt floor.

“When you take that into account with the cost of construction, I think that’s the issue with why it hasn’t sold,” he said, adding spaces that are not built out typically take longer to sell. “It’s going to cost you every bit of a $100 a square foot to build that out.”

But the demand and the uniqueness of the property may prove otherwise. At least Frudakis hopes so.

She said the price is right and hoped her design and construction experience will help prospective buyers overcome that challenge. She pointed out a prospective buyer could essentially double the square footage by adding a second floor or a mezzanine, theoretically reducing the price per square foot. The unit has 30-foot ceilings.

There may even be a possibility, assuming OKs for construction improvements and architectural review approvals, of adding a rooftop terrace.

Does Frudakis believe the unit will be sold or leased within the next six months?

“Absolutely, with the activity I’ve had,” she said.