Vorbeck paid $9.1 million, or $131.26 per sf, for the one-year-old, 69,327-sf Tree of Life headquarters building at 405 Golfway West Dr., St. Augustine, FL, and $8.1 million, or $120.15 per sf, for the two-year-old, 67,414-sf Nextel Partners' call center at 200 Beckrich Road, Panama City Beach, FL.

The Tree of Life building sale gave St. Joe a pre-tax gain of $1.2 million; the Nextel deal, a pre-tax gain of $1.9 million. Frank W. Herring Jr., president of St. Joe Commercial which developed both buildings, calls Panama City Beach "a prime business location" in Florida. "The fact that a fine company such as Vorbeck would acquire an active business property here indicates that people are taking notice and seeing this area as an attractive place from which to do business," Herring says.

Nextel Partners, affiliated with Nextel Communications Inc., employs 300 at its customer service facility and plans to add another 300 jobs during 2003, Herring says. The building is within the Beckrich Office Complex, a 27.1-acre master-planned office park developed by St. Joe Commercial at the southwest corner of Beckrich Road and U.S. 98 in Panama City Beach.

Roland, Delvalle & Bradley designed the Nextel building. KBJ Architects Inc. designed the Tree of Life headquarters. Both firms are based in Jacksonville, FL. Advantis/GVA, the commercial real estate services division of St. Joe Co., will continue to manage and lease both properties.