By John Hielscher | Staff Writer | Herald Tribune | Original Source
The sale of Gateway Professional Center marks one of the region’s biggest commercial transactions of 2019.
SARASOTA COUNTY — In one of the region’s largest commercial real estate deals this year, a private equity firm has purchased the Gateway Professional Center for $45.2 million.
The four-building office complex off Fruitville Road near Interstate 75 changed hands on Tuesday, barely four years after seller TerraCap Management LLC of Estero acquired it for $37 million.
The Class A complex is 95% leased, according to commercial broker JLL Capital Markets, with a mix of accounting, insurance, engineering and technology companies.
The buyer was Taurus Investment Holdings LLC of Boston, a global real estate private equity investment firm.
Gateway totals 246,941 square feet in buildings at 301, 401, 501 and 555 N. Cattlemen Road. The complex includes adjacent restaurants, a fitness center, conference center and 1,150 parking spaces.
“Gateway Professional Center is a fully amenitized, institutional-quality asset in Sarasota, a high-demographic rapidly growing market, which attracted numerous bids from national investors,” said Ike Ojala, senior director at JLL. “The I-75 location provides exceptional accessibility throughout the region, and active residential, hotel and retail development in the surrounding area is further adding to the strong amenity base.”
Taurus Investment says it has purchased and sold more than $6.5 billion worth of real estate totaling 40 million square feet since 1976.
TerraCap has traded other office buildings here. In 2014 it paid $11.5 million for the 10-story Kane Plaza at 1 School Ave., which it sold in May 2018 for $16.35 million.
JLL’s Ojala, senior managing director Hermen Rodriguez and director Matthew McCormack represented TerraCap and procured the buyer.