News & Notes

Price drops 7% on prime Sarasota property

In the week's top commercial real estate news, a senior living facility to open in North Port, waterfront land hits the market in Hillsborough County and a warehouse sells in Fort Myers.


  • By Louis Llovio
  • | 5:00 a.m. February 25, 2024
  • | 2 Free Articles Remaining!
The 0.57-acre parcel of property that could fit an apartment building and retail is for sale at 575 N. Washington Blvd. in Gillespie Park.
The 0.57-acre parcel of property that could fit an apartment building and retail is for sale at 575 N. Washington Blvd. in Gillespie Park.
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Naples/Fort Myers/Charlotte

Manufactured living: A 55-and-over manufactured home community is opening in Fort Myers and the builder has begun pre-selling the houses. The development at 16711 McGregor Blvd. is called Osprey Bay. When complete, the community will have 470 homes with 12 floor plans available. Prices start at $180,000 at a time when Zillow reports the average home price in the city is $366,739. Among the amenities are a 5,000-square-foot clubhouse with a catering kitchen as well a putting green and pickleball and bocce courts. According to a news release, the homes are built “to withstand the highest wind zone standards and natural elements.” A grand opening event was held Feb. 24 and move-ins will begin in the spring or summer.

Not going anywhere: DHL Express has bought a 14,760-square-foot warehouse building at 10089 Amberwood Road in Fort Myers. According to LQ Commercial Real Estate Services, the company paid $2.4 million for the property. Naples-based LQ represented the seller, a local LLC that, Lee County property records show, paid $1.38 million for the property in 2022. According to the listing, the warehouse sits on 1.76-acres and includes cross-bay industrial space, 12 roll-up, grade-level doors and three loading docks. DHL is quite familiar with this property: it has leased the warehouse since 2011.


Tampa/St. Petersburg/Pasco/Polk

The St. Petersburg Housing Authority is getting $500,000 from Pinellas County for its $29 million redevelopment of the former Edward White Hospital.
Image via Wannemacher Jensen Architects

Hospital rehab: The St. Petersburg Housing Authority is getting $500,000 from Pinellas County for its $29 million redevelopment of the former Edward White Hospital. The funding was approved by Pinellas County Commissioners Jan. 30. The money will go to RISE Development Corp., SPHA’s nonprofit arm. The commissioners’ decision follows November’s announcement that the project had won a $1 million grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York through its Affordable Housing Program. The six-story, 121,000-square-foot former hospital is on Ninth Avenue North in the city’s North Kenwood neighborhood. When complete, the development will include 71 apartments for low-income seniors along with 1,939 square feet of office space. The building will also be the site of the housing authority’s new headquarters. Construction is expected to begin later this year.

Rural waterfront: A 22.5-acre parcel of waterfront property set aside for residential development has hit the market. This land, though, is not along any of the hundreds of miles of beach towns that line the Gulf Coast. It’s in Ruskin, a rural Hillsborough County community just south of Tampa on U.S. Highway 41. According to the listing from SVN Commercial Advisory Group, the property has about 16 useable acres with waterfront views and access to Cockroach Bay and the Gulf. The current zoning is Agricultural Single Family, which allows one residence per acre, says SVN. The property is listed at $1.49 million.


Sarasota/Manatee

Downtown(ish) living: Construction has started on a 252-unit apartment complex in south Sarasota County. Alton Osprey, as it will be known, is being built at 174 E. Bay St. in Osprey and while being touted as “just south of Downtown Sarasota” it’s about 11 miles away. Delray Beach developer Kolter Multifamily says the community will be made up of three, four, and five-story apartment buildings with one-bedroom to three-bedroom units ranging from 740 square feet to 1,492 square feet. Kolter Multifamily is part of the Kolter Group, a prolific developer with local residential projects that include The Quay Sarasota the Ritz-Carlton Residences in Sarasota and the 192-unit Saltaire in St. Petersburg.

Price drop: The price has dropped on a 0.57-acre parcel for commercial or residential development near downtown Sarasota. Eric Massey, a senior commercial advisor for Michael Saunders & Co., says in a marketing email that the property at 575 N. Washington Blvd. in Gillespie Park is now listed at $2.05 million. That’s down from $2.2 million when it first hit the market in June. The parcel is zoned Downtown Edge, meaning a building of up to five stories could be built on the site. Massey says in the email that up to 57 residential units, along with first floor commercial, can be built on the site.

Grand Living at Wellen Park, a North Port senior living facility, is 235,267 square feet and has 204 units.
Courtesy image

Aging gracefully: Developers behind a senior living facility in North Port’s Wellen Park community have completed work and are expecting to open soon. Ryan Cos. US announced the completion in a Feb. 22 news release but did not give an exact date for the opening, saying it is “set to open this month.” Grand Living at Wellen Park, as it’s called, is 235,267 square feet and has 204 units. Of those, the four-story building includes 156 independent and assisted living units, 36 memory care units and 12 villas. Ryan was the developer and builder of the community and Grand Living Management is the operator and investor. Both companies are based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Wellen Park is a community being built on 11,000 acres in south Sarasota County. When fully built, it will have 22,000 homes and more than 60,000 residents. 


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author

Louis Llovio

Louis Llovio is the deputy managing editor at the Business Observer. Before going to work at the Observer, the longtime business writer worked at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Maryland Daily Record and for the Baltimore Sun Media Group. He lives in Tampa.

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