A check of the Seminole County Clerk of the Courts records revealed some interesting property sales in the last 30 days.
The largest real estate deal in Seminole County occurred in Sanford. The 272-unit Solara Apartments, located at the north east intersection of Rinehart Road and County Road 46A (Gmap) sold for a whopping $42.3 million on May 18. That’s a per unit cost of $155,500, which is higher than the 212-unit Promenade Crossing apartment complex near Baldwin Park that sold for $129,000 per unit in March.
The sale generated $296,072 in document fees. The Seminole County Property Appraisers office values the property at $34.5 million for tax purposes, which will add about $235,000 to the city of Sanford’s coffers annually.
The Solara complex was sold by Franklin, Tenn.-based Bristol Group One to a subsidiary of B & M Management of Montgomery, Ala.
The Central Florida apartment market is a prime target for investors, who are buying new and old properties as the regional economy grows and more people move into the area.
In fact, the second highest sale in Seminole County was the 233-unit Barrington Place Apartments in Oviedo, which sold for $27.45 million or $117,811 per unit. The transaction closed on June 3 between City National Bank of Florida and Miami-based PBH Barrington LLC.
That’s a lot of breadsticks
Another interesting sale of note, though not a particularly large one in the commercial real estate world, Orlando-based Darden Restaurants sold the property where its Olive Garden restaurant is located by Seminole Towne Center Mall. Brooksville, N.Y.-based CAMOG Associates LLC bought the property from Darden for $3.2 million in a sale that closed June 2.
Darden is in a selling mode as it tries to boost slumping sales. Last year the company went through a management shakeup that resulted in a sale of its Red Lobster division. Despite multiple menu tweaks, store sales at Olive Garden continue to slide, so the company is selling its real estate to prop up the bottom line.
Fans of Olive Garden won’t notice any difference because Darden will lease the property and continue to operate the restaurant.
Home sweet home
The most expensive single-family home sold during the last 30 days? Taylor Morrison of FL Inc. sold a home in its Steeple Chase subdivision off Markham Woods Road for$1.134 million.
No details on the house were available on the property appraisers website, because a certificate of occupancy was issued April 22. The home sold on May 12.
– by Dan Ping
Sanford, Fla. 