SUNZ Insurance CEO, Seattle investor make major deals on Bradenton’s downtown corridor
Two major real estate deals seem to signal growing interest in the revitalization of 14th Street West and recognition of the promise of the urban corridor downtown.
Steve Herrig, founder and CEO of SUNZ Insurance, recently purchased two acres of land in downtown Bradenton for $2.35 million.
And an unidentified Seattle-based investor doing business as Fountains Plaza, LLC, a Florida Limited Liability Company, bought The Fountains shopping center, 4808-4848 14th Street West for $9.5 million.
Both deals were brokered and announced this week by Ian Black Real Estate.
The Fountains purchase
The Seattle buyer, who is planning to relocate to Florida and is purchasing commercial properties to build his portfolio, acquired two retail properties in the Orlando market last year: Parkwood Plaza Shopping Center and Kissimmee Korners Shopping Center.
“The buyer was looking to purchase a shopping center in the Southwest Florida market, and this was particularly desirable given its low vacancy rate, long-term tenants and great visibility on U.S. 41,” Nick DeVito, partner at Ian Black Real Estate, who with Brie Tulp represented the seller, said in a press release.
“The recent influx of wealth into Sarasota and Manatee counties is also a factor driving investor interest in the area,” DiVito said. Retail center capitalization rates are at the lowest point they’ve been in decades, with interest rates following.
“Inventory is down, prices are up and interest rates have been at an all-time low,” DeVito said. “Outside investors are scooping up properties in the area and paying competitive prices for properties. It’s created a highly competitive market, with no signs of things slowing down.”
Ian Black Real Estate received multiple offers on the shopping center. Prior to putting the property on the market, the team worked with the seller to secure long-term tenants, replacing tenants that had closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Current tenants include Crunch Fitness, Food + Beer, Good Liquid Brewing Co., Armed Forces Career Center and Grand Buffet. The Fountains’ occupancy rate was more than 95% at the time of sale.
“This center has a great mix of national and local tenants, making it a desirable location for local residents,” Tulp said in the press release.
Sarasota attorney Evan N. Berlin and his revocable trust had purchased the 72,795-square-foot The Fountains property for $7.35 million in 2018.
Yunfei Liu of Multi Choice Realty represented the buyer.
Lots purchased near SUNZ Insurance
Steve Herrig bought two acres adjacent to the SUNZ Insurance high-rise building at 1301 Sixth Ave. W. The property is an assemblage of three neighboring parcels at 1301 8th Ave. W., 817 14th St. W., and 826 13th St. W.
The 14th Street West parcel is home to Wilder’s Pizza and also has a tent where the public can be tested for COVID.
Herrig also owns the 59,000-square-foot SUNZ Insurance office building.
Jag Grewal of Ian Black Real Estate represented the buyer. Angela Varga of SVN Commercial Advisory Group, represented the seller, Garfair, Inc.
“Downtown Bradenton is seeing incredible growth, and this land provides a strong investment opportunity for the buyer,” Grewal, partner at Ian Black Real Estate, said in a press release. “Given that he also owns the adjacent block, it seemed like a natural extension of his existing commercial real estate portfolio.”
In 2020, Herrig purchased a 43,863-square-foot office building at 1201 6th Ave. W. for $3.75 million and a one-acre lot at 816 12th St. W. in 2020 for $750,000. He completed minor improvements to the office building before signing Connect Bradenton, a co-working space, as a tenant.
Although there are no announced plans for the land south of the SUNZ Insurance building, zoning could allow for mixed-use, office, retail or multifamily housing, the press release said.
Downtown Bradenton has seen an increase in multifamily housing projects in the last six months.
Other downtown development
Housing Trust Group, an affordable housing developer with two other complexes in Manatee County, recently received approval from Bradenton City Council for funds to support their Riverview6 project. The complex will sit on the southeast corner of Sixth Avenue West and Ninth Street West.
Riverview6, when completed, will be a five-story complex with 80 units of affordable housing.
Another HTG project, The Addison, 702 Sixth Ave. E., Bradenton, opened in 2019. In November, HTG opened Oaks at Lakeside, 3505 53rd Ave. E., Bradenton.
“There’s a lot of capital being invested in downtown Bradenton right now,” Grewal said. “Steve’s continued interest in acquiring land in the area is just a further indication of the growth the city is experiencing and the opportunity for new projects to come to market.”
SUNZ has previously expressed strong interest in the revitalization of downtown.
“We love the west coast of Florida and expect further expansion at our corporate headquarters in the coming years ahead. We are passionate about investing in the revitalization of our hometown of downtown Bradenton,” company president Rick Leonard said in 2019.
Grewal has worked with Herrig and Sunz Insurance for more than 13 years, having assisted with approximately a dozen commercial real estate transactions, including the 2015 purchase of Sunz Insurance’s current office building downtown and the two properties purchased in 2020.
SUNZ Insurance, a national worker compensation insurance company based in Bradenton, has grown from 16 employees in 2013, when Steven Herrig bought the company, to more than 300, making it one of the largest and fastest-growing companies in Manatee County.
The Steve and Natalee Herrig Family Foundation recently made a $2 million gift to ArtCenter Manatee for its planned facility at 209 Ninth St. W.
