Sarasota County loses ground

Sarasota County loses ground

For the first quarter of 2004, the county faced big declines in single-family, residential/alteration,

multifamily and pool construction starts and values.

By Sean Roth

Real Estate Editor

There is a shake-up going on in the southern Sarasota-Manatee market. According to construction statistics for the first quarter of 2004 ending March 31, provided by The Construction Guide, Sarasota County and Venice both saw large drops in the amount and value of new single-family construction compared to the same time last year.

Sarasota County single-family starts were down by 30.3%, or 194 starts, from 641 in 2003 to 447 this year. That translated into a drop of about $36.6 million, or 28.8%, in the value of new construction. Overall, Sarasota County declined in four of the six categories, making gains in only duplex and commercial construction. But new commercial construction grew so greatly in the quarter it canceled out the declines in construction value giving the county a total value increase of more than $13.6 million from the same period last year.

Venice single-family starts declined by 39.2%, or 65 starts, from 166 to 101 this year. The value of new single-family construction declined so sharply, $7.87 million or 26.4%, that it drove the total value of new construction in the city to $37.7 million, about $5.4 million below the same period last year.

Overall, the statistics showed positive construction in the first quarter. Construction starts in all six categories were up about 19.2%, or 657, compared to the first quarter of 2003. Construction values followed starts, closely edging up about 19.3% or $103.7 million over last year.

Multifamily construction continued its decline, falling by 17.7% or 12 starts and declining $16.2 million in value from $50.1 million to about $34 million in 2004. However, Bradenton and North Port all bucked the slide and experienced double-digit increases in both starts and large construction value jumps: $6.8 million for Bradenton and $1.1 million for North Port.

On a percentage basis, duplex construction grew the most over the previous period. Total starts grew by 32 starts, an increase of about 177.8%, from 18 in 2003 to 50 in the first quarter of this year. The value of new construction also grew sharply from about $4 million in 2003 to about $7.1 million in 2004, a difference of $3.17 million or 79.3%.

Looking at the actual number growth, single-family construction topped the list, with 378 more starts this year (19%) and more than $84.7 million in additional construction value (25.1%).

Looking at the localities, with the exception of Venice and Sarasota County, most fared well. Manatee County construction starts grew by 386 starts (or 31.1%) to 1,629 and the value of new construction grew by 14.9% ($30.9 million) to $238.6 million.

North Port continued its precipitous growth; gaining about 341 new starts (56.7%) mainly in single-family home starts, which were up 251 starts compared to last year. The city also grew dramatically in construction value gaining more than $54.4 million (112.9%) in the quarter over last year - the biggest quarterly gain even against the much larger counties. The value of the growth was almost double that of its nearest competitor Manatee County and North Port's total construction value reached $102.6 million.

Construction Starts

2004SFR/ADuplexMFPoolComTotal

Anna Maria131 5

Bradenton3083141111 77

Bradenton Beach11 2

City of Sarasota48272137 133

Holmes Beach281121 15

Longboat Key12216 39

Manatee"1,013"6818481581,629

North Port6951315112017 942

Palmetto23412 30

Sarasota County4471083013327871,012

Venice1012196810 209

Total2372278505611192134,088

Construction Values

2004SFR/ADuplexMFPoolComTotal

Anna Maria$320,000$135,807$28,000$483,807

Bradenton$3,211,041$424,290$409,700$7,014,930$235,878$3,157,708$14,453,547

Bradenton Beach$278,981$17,000$295,981

City of Sarasota$8,785,349$2,942,327$598,253$10,649,660$22,975,589

Holmes Beach$596,950$658,213$470,970$907,995$31,130$325,000$2,990,258

Longboat Key$8,219,071$1,123,755$218,352$9,561,178

Manatee$196,991,768$2,989,739$93,500$4,500,200$12,469,564$21,595,542$238,640,313

North Port$87,432,392$623,548$1,551,257$1,116,551$3,844,404$8,053,158$102,621,310

Palmetto$4,815,456$163,500$20,762$74,280$5,073,998

Sarasota County$90,564,586$6,654,047$4,639,461$12,910,515$7,289,699$84,408,043$206,466,351

Venice$21,917,775$1,549,195$7,526,115$2,533,212$4,139,576$37,665,873

Total$423,133,369$17,128,614$7,164,888$33,976,306$27,258,254$132,402,967$641,064,398

Top 10 Pool Contractors by starts

BuildersStarts

1. Holiday Pools of West Florida Inc.98

2. Elite Weiler Pools Inc.95

3. Splash Pools Inc.77

4. Coast to Coast Pools Inc.67

5. Pedrick Pools Inc.51

6. Blu Aqua Pool Corp.47

7. Superior Pools39

8. Water Designs of Sarasota Inc.38

9. Anchor Pools & Spas Inc.30

9. Custom Pools by Precision30

Top 20 Contractors by starts

BuildersStarts

1. Windemere Homes Inc.134

2. Lee Wetherington Homes Inc.131

3. Divosta Building Corp.127

4. Owner/builder124

5. U.S. Homes Corp.123

6. Centex Homes120

7. K.M. Development Corp.92

8. WCI Communities Inc.89

9. Walker Homes Inc.79

10. Morrison Homes Inc.78

11. Lennar Homes Inc.65

12. Neal Communities61

13. Bruce Williams General

Contractors Inc.54

14. AllState Builders45

15. Gulfstream Development Gr42

16. First American Homes41

16. Lee W. Vandergrift41

18. Waterford Construction Inc.40

19. Westfield Homes of S.W. Fla.33

20. John Cannon Homes Inc.30

20. The Ryland Group Inc.30

Top 10 Pool Contractors by Declared Value

BuildersValue

1. Holiday Pools of West Florida Inc.$2,430,375

2. Pedrick Pools Inc. $2,362,248

3. Elite Weiler Pools Inc.$2,000,845

4. Splash Pools Inc.$1,978,346

5. Water Designs of Sarasota Inc.$1,124,850

6. Anchor Pools and Spas Inc.$994,224

7. Blu Aqua Pool Corp.$944,027

8. Superior Pools$761,887

9. Ron Schulz Inc.$639,820

10. Coast to Coast Pools Inc.$628,820

Source: The Construction Guide

Top 20 Contractors by Declared Values

BuildersValue

1. Boran, Craig, Barber, Engel Co.$46,431,656

2. WCI Communities Inc.$26,147,611

3. Lee Wetherington Homes Inc.$25,559,522

4. Centex Homes$21,891,120

5. Morrison Homes Inc.$18,625,150

6. Bruce Williams General Contractors Inc.$16,081,259

7. Windemere Homes Inc.$15,555,924

8. K.M. Development Corp.$15,373,900

9. U.S. Homes Corp.$14,319,241

10. Divosta Building Corp.$14,277,360

BuildersValue

1. Boran, Craig, Barber, Engel Co.$46,431,656

2. WCI Communities Inc.$26,147,611

3. Lee Wetherington Homes Inc.$25,559,522

4. Centex Homes$21,891,120

5. Morrison Homes Inc.$18,625,150

6. Bruce Williams General Contractors Inc.$16,081,259

7. Windemere Homes Inc.$15,555,924

8. K.M. Development Corp.$15,373,900

9. U.S. Homes Corp.$14,319,241

10. Divosta Building Corp.$14,277,360

11. Owner/builder$12,658,270

12. NDC Construction Co.$9,727,500

13. Walker Homes Inc.$9,447,250

14. Neal Communities$8,653,000

15. M. Pete McNabb Inc.$7,888,514

16. Lee W. Vandergrift$7,609,115

17. John Cannon Homes Inc.$7,566,098

18. Waterford Construction Inc.$6,377,630

19. Lennar Homes Inc.$6,278,082

20. Gulfstream Development Gr$5,635,437