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Antaramian’s downtown lots rake in $77.5 million
Developer sold seven buildings and a parcel of land in downtown Naples to New York-based BlackRock on June 27
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Sometimes there’s an offer you just can’t refuse.
For Jack Antaramian and his partners, that offer was $77.5 million.
Daily News
Click on the map above for the locations of the properties on Fifth Avenue South in Naples sold by developer Jack Antaramian’s company to New York-based Black Rock. Properties included in the sale include, from left, 305 Fifth Ave. S., 365 Fifth Ave. S., 375 Fifth Ave. S., 405 Fifth Ave. S., 625 Fifth Ave. S., 780 Fifth Ave. S., and 900 Fifth Ave. S.
Antaramian’s company sold seven buildings and a parcel of land in downtown Naples to BlackRock, a New York-based global investment, risk management and advisory company, on June 27.
As a part of the sale agreement, Antaramian has resubmitted plans to the city to build condominiums and a parking garage on the parcel at Fourth Avenue South and Fourth Street South.
“Sometimes, Mario Puzo gets it right,” Antaramian said, when asked about the sale. “Sometimes, people just make you a deal you can’t refuse. I think in anybody’s book nearly $80 million is a lot of money.”
The all-cash sale, which was recorded in Collier County public records on July 5 and July 6, included property at 305 Fifth Ave. S., 365 Fifth Ave. S., 375 Fifth Ave. S., 405 Fifth Ave. S., 625 Fifth Ave. S., 780 Fifth Ave. S. and 900 Fifth Ave. S., as well as the parking lot at Fourth Avenue South and Fourth Street South.
The sale doesn’t affect the purchase of the Naples Daily News building or property on Central Avenue in Naples nor any of Antaramian’s other projects, including Renaissance Village or Naples Bay Resort in Naples or Imperial Landing in Bonita Springs, he said.
Renaissance Village, which was taken off the market in late May, probably won’t be going back on the market anytime soon, he added.
“It’s going to be a question of time ... the market reasserting itself. ... I think it’s probably a year away before things stabilize and come back.”
Meanwhile, Antaramian, acting on behalf of the new owner BlackRock, has submitted plans that call for 22 condominiums and a 156-space parking garage for the Fourth Avenue South and Fourth Street South property.
The previous plans for the property, which has been designated for a parking garage since Andres Duany’s master plan in 1994, were pulled in January because “of the discomfort with the neighborhood,” Antaramian said.
Residents of Kensington Gardens, a 12-unit condo community on the east side of the property, and other neighboring properties spoke out against the first proposal, which called for a three-story garage with 321 parking spaces on four levels and 18 condos.
Antaramian first presented the current proposal to the Naples City Council at a workshop in May, when most members of the council spoke positively about the revisions.
Steve Gacek, who lives in the neighboring Lantana property with his wife, Jackie, spoke out against the proposal in January. But after the workshop presentation, he was more positive.
“I think that this new project acknowledges that it is a residential neighborhood,” Gacek said at the council workshop in May. “... I think it’s tastefully done from what I can see. ... I think this is a big step forward.”
The current proposal calls for the first level of parking to be recessed below the ground, making the second level about 13 feet tall, said John Passidomo, Antaramian’s attorney.
The 22 residential condos will be on the second and third floors of the building.
Tristan Spinski / Daily News
A pedestrian walks by Starbucks and Premier Properties on the 700 block of Fifth Avenue South as Rhonda Greenwell, left, of New Albany, Indiana, and her two-year-old daughter, play in the wishing fountain on Monday, July 2, 2007. Jack Antaramian's company developed the building, along with several others on 5th Avenue South, and has sold a number of the properties to New York-based Black Rock, a global investment management, risk management and advisory services company. "I've had (the properties) for several years," Antaramian said. "It just made sense to sell them and to move on to other things."
The property has to be rezoned from R3-12, a residential multifamily designation, to Planned Development because of the number of residences and the parking garage, city planner Adam Benigni said.
Fifty-seven parking spaces on the first floor will be available for the city to purchase and use 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Another 48 spaces, used during the day for tenants and guests of 365 and 405 Fifth Ave. S., would be available for lease on evenings and weekends.
The parking garage will allow owners of one-story buildings on the west end of Fifth Avenue South to redevelop, said Gloria Kovacs, a member of the Fifth Avenue South Action Committee and owner of The Name Game gift shop on the main street.
One of the requirements for redevelopment is additional parking for the additional commercial and residential space that developers add.
The businesses on the west end really need that parking garage, merchants contend.
“They need that adrenaline shot in the arm,” Kovacs said.
Antaramian agreed.
“We desperately need parking on Fifth Avenue, especially on the west end if we’re going to stay competitive,” he said. “I ... hope people understand that there’s a lot of competition that’s going to be coming for Fifth Avenue and I feel that we’re not keeping up.”
The plans are scheduled to go before the Fifth Avenue South Action Committee on Sept. 6 and the Naples Planning Advisory Board on Sept. 14, Passidomo said.
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Congratulations..Mr. A has done so much good for downtown Naples. In the meantime, Kensington Gdns is a piece of s***, ..stinky & worn out...occupied by mostly renters & carpet bagging non-homestead "part-timers"..and now that Lee is gone, McCabe gone, etc., I guess the ged'ers will call the shots.
#1 Posted by Trexler on July 13, 2007 at 8:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The fact that he received 77.5 million is news. Public records would show what he paid for the same properties and when. The cash deal also stands out.
Do any of the Naples or Collier County officials have a relationship with BlackRock?
#2 Posted by volochine on July 14, 2007 at 12:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The fact that he received 77.5 million is news. Public records would show what he paid for the same properties and when. The cash deal also stands out.
Do any of the Naples or Collier County officials have a relationship with BlackRock?
#3 Posted by volochine on July 14, 2007 at 12:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)
How much TAX is owed on 77.5 million dollars? ... just a thought
#4 Posted by tootsie on July 14, 2007 at 7:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Who cares tootsie , 77.5 million dollars give that to me anytime and I'll gladly pay the taxes on it, lol.
#5 Posted by youreallcrazy on July 14, 2007 at 8:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I always wanted to go to New York, now I don't have to New York is coming to me.
#6 Posted by doodlebug on July 14, 2007 at 10:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If rolled over, no tax for now but relatively small amount after the "last" project is cashed out..and to think, I used to have to lug around a briefcase full of punchcard programs...livin large, rich on paper in Naples..wheeeee!
#7 Posted by Trexler on July 14, 2007 at 11:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
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