Places This Week: Pinellas Business Center, AMIkids, Grand Central, The Royal

A Boston investment firm with a strong Florida presence bought a business park in north St. Petersburg. Classical Christian School for the Arts has a new home in Pinellas Park. A boutique townhome development in downtown St. Pete sells out.

Here’s this week’s roundup of local real estate news.

Gateway deal

Taurus Investment Holdings, a private equity real estate firm headquartered in Boston and with a strong presence and offices in Florida, bought Pinellas Business Center for $19.925 million on May 6, according to a deed filed in Pinellas County. The seller was Denholtz Properties, a privately held real estate development and investment company in Red Bank, New Jersey. Denholtz bought the property for $9.5 million in 2012, Pinellas County real estate records show.

Pinellas Business Center includes six Class-A office buildings spanning 202,000 square feet of office and industrial space at 10901-11001 Roosevelt Blvd . The center offers grade-level and dock-high space ideal for office, warehouse, light assembly, and showroom requirements, according to a description on the Denholtz website. The 18-acre property is located in the Pinellas Gateway District at the intersection of Roosevelt Boulevard and Martin Luther King Boulevard.

Pinellas Business Center, 10901 Roosevelt Blvd.

Pinellas Business Center

New campus

Classical Christian School for the Arts is moving its campus to 6500 102nd Ave. in Pinellas Park. The school bought the property from AMIkids Pinellas on May 5 for $1.5 million, a deed filed in Pinellas said.

The 23,000-square foot structure was built in 1986 and acquired by AMIkids in 2016 for $825,000, according to Pinellas property records.

AMIkids had been using the property to service a U.S. Department of Labor grant, offering vocational training and job placement services to youth 16-24 years of age, a spokesman for the organization said. The property was sold as the program wasn’t in need of the space any longer, he said.

Grand Central investments

Tierre Verde Investments bought a 16-unit apartment property and office space in the Grand Central District last month.

The company bought the apartments at 1649 and 1659 1st Ave. N. for $2.3 million on April 29, Pinellas property records show. The seller was Shindig of Manatee, a private investor in Palmetto.

On the same day, Tierre Verde Investments bought the property at 1641 1st Ave. N. for $1 million from Abelman Family LLC in St. Petersburg. Property records show that it’s a 1,500 square foot building that can be used for general office space.

Tierre Verde Investments shares an address with several companies owned or led by Thomas Gaffney, a local real estate investor.

Sustainability appeal

The Royal, a 13-unit boutique development at 545 4th Ave. S. in downtown St. Pete, has sold out.

The townhomes project, developed by Salt Palm Development, broke ground a year ago. Construction halted due to Covid-19 and resumed about two months ago.

Homes will range between 1,650 and 3,100 square feet with prices starting in the mid $500s and up to $1.35 million.

Salt Palm Development, led by Jared Meyers, co-founder and chairman, is a Certified B Corporation, a type of for-profit business that balances purpose and profit. The company invests part of its profits back into the community.

“With the developers’ unique perspective and commitment to sustainability, these homes are unlike any other offering in downtown St. Pete,” said listing agent Jacki Fabrizio, with Smith & Associates Real Estate. “Across every industry, we are seeing that consumers want to feel good about the companies they do business with. Our buyers are no different and are eager to own a home where such care and attention has been given to the community they live in.”

A rendering of The Royal

NOTE: This story has been updated to include the correct location of the headquarters of Taurus Investment Holdings.