The deal hinges on buyer financing and won't close until May 1.

Enic bought the 200,000-sf structure from a Baltimore Gas & Electric subsidiary in 1999 for $11.5 million. Baltimore Gas wrote off the property after paying $61 million for the asset in 1988 to entrepreneur and Church Street Station developer Bob Snow.

Officials at F.F. South couldn't be reached for comment at GlobeSt.com's publication deadline. But retail brokers familiar with the former landmark property's history tell GlobeSt.com that F.F. South, headed by Robert I. Kling, picked up a bargain, even at about $80 per sf.

"The problem for them now is what to do with this asset," a local investment counselor following the sale tells GlobeSt.com on condition of anonymity.

"Church Street Station, once a contender among Orlando area attractions, is not that anymore, so the question remains, what is the highest and best use for this property, if it isn't going to be retail."

The sale at this time perplexes some Downtown real estate observers because Joseph Lewis, a shareholder in Enic, is also the new owner of the Jaymont Block, a 2.29-acre Downtown site 200 feet from Church Street Station.

Real Estate pundits had thought Lewis would have sought to blend in a revived Church Street Station with a rejuvenated Jaymont Block venture, so far undisclosed.

The reclusive Lewis couldn't be reached. He has never been interviewed by the media and has never had his photo appear in print or on television.

"This is going to be interesting for Downtown, whichever way it plays out," Tom D. Cook, vice president/development in the Orlando office of Carter & Associates-ONCOR, tells GlobeSt.com.

F.F. South has no track record locally of having completed mega projects but has invested and developed shopping centers such as the 270,000-sf Marketplace at Dr. Phillips in south Orlando and a 250,000-sf retail venture in suburban Altamonte Springs.

Instant Insights /

Church Street Station Owner Turns Gross Profit of $4.4 Mil on Downtown Sale

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