Palmetto apartment project gets $97 million construction loan

The St. Petersburg developers behind a 610-unit Palmetto apartment community have gotten a $97 million loan to pay for the construction.

The Mahaffey Apartment Co. secured the loan through Goldman Sachs. The terms were not disclosed.

The loan was arranged — and the financing announced — by Berkadia.

Mahaffey, which operates properties under the Carlton Arms brand, is building the apartment complex on a 40.8-acre parcel of land off of Interstate 75 and Moccasin Wallow Road that it bought in November.

According to Manatee County property records, it paid $11.5 million for the land.

Carlton at Robinson Gateway, as it will be called, will be made up of 15 four-story buildings with one-, two- and three-bedroom units ranging in size from 625 square feet to 1,587 square feet.

The amenities will mirror those of other garden communities, with in-unit washers and dryers, a clubhouse, pool and dog park.

Construction on the property is expected to begin early this year.

The complex is going up next to where BayCare Health System plans to build a $548 million, 45,000-square-foot hospital. BayCare Hospital Manatee will be the county’s first nonprofit hospital and the first north of the Manatee River.

Work on the 154-bed hospital is set to start in October.

Mahaffey was founded in 1962 and is still family run. According to its website, it has developed and built 23 apartments communities totaling 20,000 units.