Tim Lopez Sr., president and CEO of Plant City-based residential contractor Westcoast Enterprises, and his wife, Pam Lopez, purchased the three-building Southside Farm and Pet Supply for $2.43 million.
The price equated to $113 per square foot. That figure is lower than the two-year average price per square foot for retail space ($146) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.
The roughly 40-year-old business includes a 14,272-square-foot retail store, the 4,263-square-foot Animal Clinic at Southside and a 3,000-square-foot drive-through building for Southwide Farm & Pet Supply. The former owner Dennis Der had decided to retire, said Tim Lopez Sr.
Lopez said his wife will be running the store, which currently sells Western clothing, and plans to expand its offerings to non-Western clothing as well, and fishing and outdoor gear.
“We plan to invest about a million dollars in additional inventory,” Lopez says. “Dennis did a great job with the property, but we have a different vision. It just needs some tweaking. There is no reason that someone from Plant City needs to travel to the big-box stores or malls in Brandon or Lakeland for clothes.”
The new owners plan to enclose and air-condition 4,000 square feet of warehouse space in the retail building and use it as a pet/large animal section. They also plan to create an 1800s-style, two-story saloon structure in the retail building devoted to boots, called the Southside Boot Saloon.
The couple’s son, Michael, who has a degree in agriculture from the University of Florida, currently is learning the farm and pet side of the business. The goal is to have him on that side of the operations.
The purchase entity Double Bar S Holdings LLC mortgaged the property to Florida Traditions Bank for $2 million.
JUST THE FACTS
BUYER: Double Bar S Holdings LLC (principals: Timothy Lopez Sr. and Pamela Lopez, Plant City)
SELLER: Dennis Joe Der and Lori Ann Der
PROPERTY: 3012 James L. Redman Parkway and 3724 Old Mulberry Road, Plant City
PRICE: $2.43 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $35,000, December 1982
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Trinkle Redman Swanson Coton Davis & Smith PA, Plant City