Local Company Absorbs 50,000 Square Feet

See? All's not totally dead around here. There are at least some bright spots here and there.

Firm rents more warehouse space on McIntosh Road

By Michael Braga

Published: Monday, August 17, 2009 at 1:00 a.m.

In the midst of the toughest market conditions that anyone can remember, the Meridian Development Group has pulled off a coup.

The Clearwater company, which owns and manages a giant, 910,000-square-foot warehouse complex on McIntosh road in Sarasota County, has convinced a local bandage manufacturer to sign up for 50,000 square feet.

ASO Corp., the subsidiary of a Japanese corporation that has made adhesive bandages and other wound care products in Florida for 25 years, is one of those rare companies with the ability to expand in the middle of a recession.

"This is an expansion," said Steven Kossoff, Meridian's managing director. "In Sarasota, there were only two facilities that were large enough to meet their needs."

ASO's choice came down to price and amenities, Kossoff said.

"We have a fully fenced facility with 24-hour guard service and high ceilings that allow for more stacking," Kossoff said.

When pressed for details about price, Kossoff would only say that the lease rate was lower than the $5.50 per square foot the company had been asking in the past.

"It was lower than we've historically seen, but it was not too terrible," Kossoff said, especially in market conditions in which warehouse owners are getting clobbered.

Calls to ASO's headquarters in the Sarasota International Trade Center were not returned.

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