Pirate's Cove fun center sells piece to RaceTrac

Pirate's Cove fun center sells piece to RaceTrac

BUYER: RaceTrac Petroleum Inc., Atlanta

SELLER: Alco Properties of Manatee Inc.

PROPERTY: 5410 W. 14th St., Bradenton

PRICE: $1.3 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $635,000, October 1983

LAW FIRM ON DEED: General Counsel of RaceTrac Petroleum Inc., Atlanta

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: The Pirate's Cove Family Fun Center property in Bradenton is being broken up and the first piece is going to a convenience store user. Atlanta-based gas-station company RaceTrac Petroleum Inc. purchased a 1.93-acre portion of the amusement park/go-kart track property fronting U.S. 41 for $1.3 million. The purchase price equated to $674,274 per acre.

The Atlanta-based convenience store operator plans to develop a 5,000-square-foot gas station with 12 fuel pumps. Construction is scheduled to start this summer for an opening towards the fourth quarter.

“It's my understanding that all of the go-kart track is coming down,” says Robby Posener, vice president of real estate and engineering for RaceTrac. “We are really actively buying and acquiring sites. We feel it's the prefect time for companies like ours to buy land and create jobs and economic stimulus.”

In addition, Posener says that other gas stations are shutting down or ending fuel sales, because of Florida's environmental laws requiring double-walled storage tanks, which leaves a void in the marketplace for companies like RaceTrac.