A tiny, two-tenant Fort Myers Beach building, measuring less than 3,000 square feet sold for $4.5 million, averaging about $1,600 per square foot.
It’s a legacy parcel at 1028 Fifth St. and one of the first buildings visible on the beach side of the San Carlos Bridge that was owned by Murray Carslake from 1988 until 2005.
This marks the building’s second sale since 2005, when Bridgenorth Properties LLC purchased the building for $1.7 million from Carslake’s estate. In 2009, during the Great Recession, Krohn Investments purchased the building from Bridgenorth for $625,000.
Krohn Investments put it on the market right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020. It was later taken off the market, put back on at $3.9 million, then taken back off a second time until real estate prices began soaring.
When Krohn Investments put it on the market a third time at $4.5 million, it got full asking price. Real estate brokers Robert Beasley and Jason Padilla of RWB Real Estate Inc. represented the seller and got it under contract within two days. Broker Daniel Clarkston of Premiere Plus Realty represented the buyer. Hans Birkart, a German investor and part-time Sanibel Island resident made the purchase. He could not be reached for comment.
“The reality is, on Fort Myers Beach there can never be any more commercial property other than what’s already available today,” Beasley said. “That makes commercial property, almost regardless of what it is, almost invaluable at this point. Truly, that is what makes commercial property on Fort Myers Beach so valuable. It’s because there just won’t be anymore. It’s similar to the condo situation on the island.”
A Coldstone Creamery ice cream store has a long-term lease in about 800 square feet of space, Beasley said. About 2,000 square feet had been the now-closed Teeki Hut souvenir store.
Beasley said the new owner has not yet announced his plans for the other part of the building, which was completely rebuilt after Hurricane Irma hit in 2017. The renovations included new concrete walls, new electric, new plumbing, new air conditioning and a new roof.
“It’s probably the strongest building in that Times Square area,” Beasley said. “There’s a ton of money in that building. I think the concrete floors were six feet thick. A lot of the buildings in Times Square, they’re still pretty old.”
