Airport preparing to sell industrial tract

Officials at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport are preparing to sell a 6.2-acre industrial tract within the airport property for $1.26 million.

Airport CEO Fredrick “Rick” Piccolo says the deal with Restaurant Depot is slated to close sometime in December. If the deal reaches fruition, a roughly 50-year-old building occupied by Security First Storage will be razed, paving the way for the restaurant supply firm to develop a new 30,000-square-foot structure beginning sometime next year.

“The reason it's being sold is the existing building really is past its prime and needs to be taken down,” Piccolo says. “It just outlived its useful life.”

Restaurant Depot's $13 million Manatee County development, which will supply hundreds of eateries throughout the region, is expected to create 65 jobs. Restaurant Depot is currently supplying Bradenton and Sarasota restaurants from a facility in Tampa, Piccolo says.

In addition to the 6.2-acre tract it's selling next month, Sarasota-Bradenton International owns roughly 215 acres of industrial land that could be developed.