Manatee pays $4.4 million for sheriff’s department building

Manatee County has closed on the purchase of a Bradenton office building that the sheriff’s department has been leasing for about nine years.

The 17,000-square-foot building at 616 67th St. sold for $4.4 million.

County commissioners approved the purchase May 14, says a Manatee spokesman, who confirmed an announcement from SVN Commercial Advisory Group that the deal has closed.

SVN represented the seller, a Sarasota LLC.

Courtesy image

The building has served as an office for the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office District 3 since 2015. SVN says when the property’s owner first discussed selling it with the firm’s senior advisor, Tony Veldkamp, “he immediately thought about approaching” the department.

“They were interested, so we put a deal together and the property never even went to market,” says Veldkamp.

The building, which is off State Road 64 and near Interstate 75, was originally built for a college in 2004 and can be expanded by 4,000 square feet if needed.

The county spokesman says there is no information on upgrades at this point.

For SVN’s Veldkamp, this is the just latest deal he’s worked on with Manatee.

The firm says the others include the acquisition of 1.25 acres in Palmetto and a 20,000-square-foot office building in Bradenton for the Public Works Department.

According to the Manatee Sheriff’s Office website, the county is divided into three patrol divisions and has about 295 deputies and 92 civilian employees assigned to the enforcement bureau.