Darden paid Taza Real Estate Inc. $1.8 million, or $208.42 per sf, for the 8,636-sf Taza Restaurant on Sand Lake Road near the 1.8-million-sf Florida Mall. On a per-seat cost basis, the 150-seat property sold for about $12,000 per seat.

Owners of the eight-month-old restaurant, part of the Saudi Arabian company's expansion plans for metro Orlando, plan a new location in east Orlando, according to Taza's prepared statement. Mike Halimeh, a broker with Orlando-based Vance Realty, says Taza is also scouting for other Florida development sites.

Halimeh says Darden plans to convert the Taza site into a Smokey Bones Barbeque location later this year. Darden has a Red Lobster restaurant in the same submarket. Darden's 1,271-restaurant portfolio includes 673 Red Lobsters, 524 Olive Gardens, 39 Smokey Bones and 34 Bahama Breeze restaurants.