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Places This Week: Biff-Burger has new owner, ICOT Center offices acquired

Veronica Brezina

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156 George St. S., Tarpon Springs. Zillow.

The iconic Biff-Burger joint is acquired by a local investor. The ICOT Center in Clearwater among other offices is scooped up by a single entity. Property across from Derby Lane where greyhound racing took place could be used for multi-family development. A home in Clearwater Beach sells for $10.5 million, making it the highest home sale in Pinellas County. A former St. Pete mayor’s home hits the market. 

Here’s this week’s roundup of local real estate deals: 

 

Property across Derby Lane may be used for multi-family development

Two vacant commercial parcels across the street from the Derby Lane site have been purchased. 

10491 Gandy Blvd. N. in St. Pete. Google Maps.

St. Tropez Investment Co. LLC sold two parcels at 10491 Gandy Blvd. N. in a $2.3 million deal to MD Gandy LLC, which is connected to Clearwater-based HC JV LLC, managed by Loci Capital Management Co. LLC.   

The lots acquired are directly in front of the Tortuga Point Apartments and are described as an ideal location to build multi-family development. 

The surrounding area of the Derby Lane track is a location that developers are closely watching. 

Since the closing of the track at Derby Lane in 2020, due to a passage of an amendment banning greyhound racing, local officials have stated they could potentially see the Tampa Bay Rays building a new stadium at the site. 

However, there haven’t been any reported efforts to further the conversation on the Rays potentially occupying the stadium, and while greyhound racing has come to an end inside the stadium, Derby Lane’s popular poker room remains open. 

 

Biff-Burger and Buffy’s BBQ have a new owner 

The nostalgic Biff-Burger and the adjoining Buffy’s BBQ in St. Pete is under a new ownership. 

Biff-Burger. Photo by Bill DeYoung.

Justin Basil, manager at Tampa-based Rockwell Investments, purchased the two parcels at 3939 49th St. N. in a $1.4 million deal. 

He was interested in the property due to its frontage on 49th Street. Basil’s wife Lauren Basil operates the Mosh Posh consignment store in Tampa, which closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Basil told the St. Pete Catalyst that the restaurant operations will continue.

The Biff-Burger restaurant in St. Pete opened in the 1950s and had several different owners over the years, but mainly remained the same. 

Biff-Burger. Photo by Bill DeYoung.

Today, only two known locations of the former Biff-Burger chain still exist – one in Greensboro, North Carolina, renamed as Beef Burger, and the other is in St. Pete. 

This location also has many elements of the “classic” Biff-Burger architecture and features, with an existing original road sign, according to the business description. 

Adjoined to Biff-Burger is Buffy’s Southern Pit BBQ, which is recognizable by the pink ’57 Chevy on the roof.

Buffy’s BBQ, next to Biff-Burger. Google Maps.

 

California firm scoops up office complexes, including ICOT Center in Clearwater 

A California-based management company has acquired several offices in the ICOT Center in Clearwater, a 262-acre business park on Ulmerton Road in Clearwater, as well as several others for a total of roughly $42.18 million. 

ICOT Center offices. Loopnet.

The buying entity is connected to Birtcher Anderson Realty Management Inc., which is a property management services company that acquires and sells office, industrial and retail properties. 

The largest purchases included: five parcels within the ICOT Center for $8.22 million; the Turtle Creek Office complex in Clearwater for roughly $11.26 million; and three parcels in the Starkey Business Center for roughly $18.1 million, according to Pinellas County public records. 

 

Pasadena shopping center sells to a large commercial buyer 

A New York has acquired a Walmart Neighborhood Market-anchored shopping center at 6818 Gulfport Blvd. in South Pasadena. 

It was sold from Branch South Pasadena Associates LLC to South Pasadena RG2 in a $32.65 million deal. 

South Pasadena RG2 is linked to RPT Realty, which is the same company that recently bought parcels in and around the Walmart Neighborhood Market-anchored plaza in the East Lake Woodlands neighborhood.   

RPT owns dozens of shopping centers nationwide.

The shopping center includes eight buildings totaling 166,188 square feet and has more than 30 tenants, including Anytime Fitness and Ace Hardware. 

 

Home in Mandalay Point sells for $10.5 million, making it the highest-priced sale in the county

A home in Mandalay Point, a gated Clearwater Beach subdivision, has sold for $10.5 million – making it the highest-priced sale in Pinellas County this year. 

Home at 1150 Mandalay Point in Clearwater. Loopnet.

 
The entity Beach Investment Holdings LLC, which is tied to a Florida-based law firm, sold the waterfront home at 1150 Manadaly Point to Michael and Allyson Hyer. 
 

Home at 1150 Mandalay Point in Clearwater. Loopnet.

The 3,338-square-foot home, built in 1949, boasts bay views that stretch to Caladesi Island. 

It features four bedrooms and five bathrooms as well as a sunroom and pool. 

Home at 1150 Mandalay Point in Clearwater. Loopnet.

 

Tech exec sells his Tarpon Springs home situated on a finger of land 

Shereef Moawad, the owner of Tarpon Springs-based ChatLead.com Inc., sold his Tarpon Springs home in a roughly $2.43 million deal. 

156 George St. S., Tarpon Springs. Zillow.

His company, which includes CarChat24, helps car dealers sell more vehicles by converting a higher percentage of their website visitors into quality leads. 

The 5,521-square-foot home at 156 George St. S. is on a finger of land that juts out on Lake Tarpon and is surrounded by water on all three sides. 

The home has four bedrooms that each open onto the rooftop deck. 

156 George St. S., Tarpon Springs. Zillow.

Outside is a swimming pool, spill-over spa, an outdoor kitchen, and a private dock with two slips.

Also unique to the home is a 2,600-square-foot humidity-controlled garage. 

 

Former St. Pete Mayor’s home hits the market 

Late St. Petersburg Mayor Randolph Wedding’s home is back on the market and is pending a sale.  

The Snell Isle Estate, at 990 31st Ave. NE, is a 5,878-square-foot home built in 1968. The asking price is $2.5 million. 

The home, the design of which was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, has five bedrooms and four-and-a-half baths and backs up to a canal. 

990 31st Ave. NE, St. Pete. Zillow.

The home boasts floor-to-ceiling windows and sits on a half-acre with a lush landscape, a pool and an outdoor kitchen. 

990 31st Ave. NE, St. Pete. Zillow.

The listing agent is Emil Suileman of EXP Realty LLC. 

Wedding, who passed away in 2012, served as mayor from 1973 to 1975 and helped persuade the state to build Interstate 375 and 175 and connect them into downtown.

He was also known by his architecture firm, which designed the original Busch Gardens theme park. 

 

990 31st Ave. NE, St. Pete. Zillow.

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