An apartment developer acquired and plans to demolish a 1929-vintage building that houses the Independent Florida Alligator, a campus newspaper serving the University of Florida community.
The developer, a partnership called SMLC, acquired the building from Campus Communications, the company that owns the newspaper, according to a deed recorded February 8.
SMLC is a partnership of Lee Caswell, an Atlanta real estate professional who focuses on office leasing, and Shawn McManus of KLM Holdings Development, which has built and acquired apartment buildings near the UF campus.
The Gainesville Sun reported that SMLC next month plans to submit a development plan application to the city of Gainesville proposing an apartment building on the site of the newspaper office.
The apartment building would be five to seven stories tall with commercial space on the first floor. SLMC hopes to start construction in fall and finish building the rental development in one year.
Campus Communications had owned the building housing the Independent Florida Alligator’s office since 1990. The Gainesville Sun prints the Independent Florida Alligator at its plant on Southwest 13 Street in Gainesville.
Patricia Carey, general manager of the Alligator, told the Gainesville Sun the editors will decide soon when to release information about the sale of the building and the newspaper’s plans. [Gainesville Sun] — Mike Seemuth