Venture One pays $17 million for East Naples industrial properties.

Venture One, a Chicago-based real estate private equity group, recently acquired two multitenant industrial buildings in East Naples for $17 million, adding them to its portfolio.

“We specialize in industrial. It’s all we do. As a company, we’ve been doing it since 2000. We target infill locations that are tough to replicate at what we think is below replacement cost,” said Kyle Grant, vice president of Venture One’s Florida Region, based in Miami. ”Our strategy is to continue to operate this as it’s been operated and just own it.”

The buildings that were purchased comprise 83,500 square feet and are situated on approximately 4 acres at 4120 Enterprise Ave. in the heart of the East Naples industrial park, which is bounded by Airport-Pulling and Livingston roads. Naples Industrial Estates LLC, a Bonita Springs-based company registered to David and Neil Braverman, is the seller.

Property records in Collier County state that the industrial structures were constructed in 2000; however, the site was last sold for $661,500 in 1999, when it was still undeveloped, according to a recent article by Tim Aten of Gulfshore Business.

About 45 units spread over 37 commercial tenants make up the two buildings that were sold; however, because some businesses occupy multiple flats, the structures are almost entirely leased. “It’s almost 100%, maybe 98%,” stated Grant.

Venture One thinks these buildings’ smaller tenants serve the market well. According to Grant, the eclectic tenant mix consists of regional companies like a car wrap company, an event planner, and a carpenter, as well as custom clothing manufacturers.

“It’s a mix of really everyone that you would expect,” he said. “It’s a good mix of tenants of a variety of sizes as well as business uses. As far as anything that happens in Naples, I feel like it comes out of this two-building little park here.”

Numerous businesses operate out of the industrial buildings, including Marco’s Cuban Cafe, Jabba Fine Foods, CrossFit Naples, Dan House Electric, Hoosier Plumbing, FrankenSigns, Gulfshore Cabinetry & Remodeling, Eddie’s Pool Service, SunFlex Wall Systems, Tom Trovato Event Floral & Design, and The Studio of Fine Furniture Finishing. The industrial buildings are perhaps best known for being the former location of the Naples Beach Brewery.

Stretching along Industrial Boulevard from Enterprise Avenue to Exchange Avenue, the structures are long and narrow. There are two driveways that allow trucks and other vehicles to pass through the block-long property.

“This one checked a lot of boxes for us. It’s a good-quality building compared to the competition in the area. And it’s a good size for us too, where it justifies us taking a bet,” Grant said. “If you’re going to spend the dollars, to spend time to come over here and manage it the right way, you would want it to be at a price point, I think, that you can be rewarded for that.”

According to Grant, Venture One is thrilled about the chance to be a part of Naples and its wealthy clientele. After purchasing properties in Clearwater and Orlando, the business is making its third acquisition in Florida with the Naples deal. Before moving here from Chicago in March of last year and officially opening the company’s Miami office, Grant had been spearheading Venture One’s expansion into the Sunshine State. This office serves as a complement to the company’s home office located in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois, as well as another regional office situated in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

“The first deal was with Orlando,” he claimed. “We are currently just ramping up on a 220,000-square-foot building that we are developing on that land. Then, we purchased a pre-existing Clearwater property that had a single tenant and was a sale-leaseback. This is our third transaction as of right now. This is the third deal we have closed on, but we still have a few outstanding agreements.”

Justin Thibaut and Alexis North, who founded a Naples office in November for the Fort Myers-based LSI Companies, were responsible for mediating this month’s transaction. According to LSI, “This marks the first time one of the largest multitenant industrial facilities in Collier County has changed hands since construction in 2000.”

Is this the year’s biggest regional industrial deal?

The president and CEO of LSI, Thibaut, remarked, “It’s early in the year. We’ll refer to it as the deal of the month.”

According to Thibaut, the acquisition is noteworthy since there isn’t much space in the neighborhood market for new industrial parks.

He stated, “I think Venture One is a buyer who can really take advantage of the market dynamics.In today’s market, I believe the winners will be well-capitalized buyers who are strategic and long-term focused, like Venture One.”

Venture One focuses on ground-up development and industrial acquisitions, with average deals valued between $2 million and $150 million, using its fund platform.The company searches the majority of Florida and the Naples-Fort Myers region for additional properties.

“We want to expand the portfolio and hopefully be the first of many. The long-term fundamentals of Naples appeal to us,” Grant remarked.

This article originally appeared on Gulfshore Business