Do Not Pass Go. Call Jim Batmasian

monopolyWho’s the first person you call when you get a new commercial real estate listing in Boca Raton, Florida?

Ask veteran real estate broker, Ken Silberling and he’ll tell you:

“You call the largest private commercial real estate owner in Boca Raton, Jim Batmasian.” 

And sure enough, within one week after Ken Silberling and Reese Stigliano obtained a listing on a free standing building in Boca Raton, it was under contract with Mr. Batmasian. And 30 days later, there’s one of his company’s ubiquitous black and yellow “Investments Limited” signs on the property.

When you buy a property when playing the board game, Monopoly,  the first thing you try to do is place a little green house or a red hotel on the property. When Jim Batmasian buys a property on his real life Monopoly board, “The City of Boca Raton,” the first thing he does is slap a shiny new “Investments Limited” sign in front of the property. If you live or drive in South Florida, you can’t miss, the hundreds of the black and yellow signs all along major streets and highways throughout Boca Raton, Deerfield Beach and Delray Beach.

The newest addition to the Batmasian real estate monopoly is a 6,191 square foot, free-standing, single-story building located at 4805 NW 2nd Avenue in Boca Raton. The building, situated on 1.2 acres, was sold on September 23rd for $1.0 million or $161 per square foot. The property has been vacant for several years and was in need of significant repairs including air conditioners and a new roof.

When asked how it was dealing with Jim Batmasian, the largest individual taxpayer in the City of Boca Raton and the owner of several million square feet of South Florida real estate, Ken Silberling had nothing but nice things to say.

“He’s a great buyer. He submitted a simple six page purchase and sale agreement, requested only 15 days to inspect the property and closed 15 days thereafter, all cash. Jim did everything he agreed to do. It was a pleasure dealing with him and his son Armen.” 

Ken Silberling, Vice President and Reese Stigliano, Senior Vice President of Brenner Real Estate Group represented the seller of the building, 4805 Operations, LLC, who obtained the building in 2011 when they foreclosed on the previous owner, Gregory Talbott.

Ironically, Greg Talbott, who died in May of this year, was one of the other “Monopoly” players in Boca Raton. Mr. Talbot was a major developer and owned numerous properties in Boca Raton including the Yamato Crossing Retail Center, a 30,000 square foot shopping center which is contiguous to the 4805 NW 2nd Avenue property.

The Yamato Crossing Retail Center, located at 222 Yamato Road, was sold last week at a federal bankruptcy auction. The property, which is anchored by Panera Bread and a CVS drug store, sold for $13 million or $433 per square foot. The buyer was Deerfield Beach, FL-based Konover South, who won the bidding war at the bankruptcy auction against Mr. Batmasian, the second highest bidder.