The $30 million all-cash price equates to $97.47 per sf, an amount similar to the original hard construction cost of the 92%-leased building in 1983, Orange County tax records show. Orange County Property Appraiser Bill Donegan lists the taxable or market value of the property at $24.3 million or $81.08 per sf and places the estimated original cost of the structure's gross sf at $30.32 million.

Central Florida construction industry estimators tell GlobeSt.com the property's replacement cost today is about $150 per sf or an estimated $41 million, a figure that clearly shows the buyers netted a solid deal.

In a prepared statement, Robert Watman, Sterling's vice president/acquisitions, says the deal was done quickly. "The seller needed to close the deal by yearend [2002]," Watman says. "We got involved around Thanksgiving Day and instantly realized that to make this deal happen, it would have to be an all-cash transaction--financing would have to wait until 2003." The deal closed Dec. 27.