Bank Owned Development Site Fetches $2M

(Mark Your Calendars for RealShare Distressed Assets, Oct. 4-5 in Dallas.)

ORLANDO-A 9.52 acre development site in Orlando’s tourism corridor has fetched $2.05 million. A foreign investor purchased the bank-owned property, continuing the trend toward international sales in Florida markets.

NAI Realvest Principal and Managing Partner Paul P. Partyka, along with associate Tom Kelley, negotiated the REO sale on behalf of the Brazilian investors MRV International. Matt Sullivan, principal and managing director at Colliers International’s Orlando office, represented the seller, First Southern Bank of Orlando.

“Our buyer looked at the property a number of times over the past few years, but it was caught up in foreclosure and litigation,” Partyka tells GlobeSt.com. “By chance I represent the bank on other properties, so when I found out this development site was available I told my buyer and we got in through the back door right away.”

Located at 5912 Kingspointe Parkway off Sand Lake Road, the property sits in an area that is home to office, retail and light industrial. MRV purchased the property to develop light industrial project, but has several exit options depending on how the market shakes out.
 
“MRV International is one of the largest publicly traded real estate companies in Brazil,” Partyka says. “They are aggressively purchasing industrial properties for future value and development. But there is some potential value on this site. They can sell off part of the corner lot for a convenience store and build light industrial in the back.”

MRV’s timing could be right. Orlando’s industrial vacancy is declining, according to an August report from Cushman & Wakefield. The rate declined to 14% at mid-year 2011, down from 14.5% in the year-ago period. That marks the lowest industrial vacancy rate since the first quarter of 2009.

According to Partyka, foreign investors are active in Orlando. He current represents two buyers in South America and another in Dubai that are flush with cash to make acquisitions. International sales are up all over, with the National Association of Realtors reporting sales to foreigners rising to $82 billion in the 12-month period ending in March. That compares to $66 billion for the previous 12-month period. But Partyka says local investors are also putting cash into deals.

“I just sold a site slated to develop a Sonic restaurant about a month ago,” Partyka says. “The seller had purchased it in Dec. 2009 for $850,000. The buyer was a local investor who paid $360,000 with most of the entitlements in place for all the fast food store right across the street from McDonald’s. Cash is king.”