SARASOTA, FLORIDA, January 11th 2017 – Residents at Hill Park, Oakwood and other subdivisions in Samoset south of downtown Bradenton are pushing for the revitalization of their community under an improvement strategy which Manatee County has adopted many years earlier.
County officials formulated this plan in 2007 and approved it the same year, but the onset the recession and its adverse effects on the county’s budget derailed its implementation. Samoset folks now hope that funding of their community’s revitalization could be sourced from the half-cent increase on the infrastructure sale tax which took effect this January. Local voters approved this tax hike in a referendum during the last November elections.
As per county estimates, the tax increase would generate an additional revenue of $30 million a year during the next 15 years. About $5 million is projected for allocation to the cities of Manatee, an amount which is expected to be channeled to parks, public safety and transportation.
These are the very same amenities identified in the 10-year old Samoset improvement plan. Specifically, the areas for development identified in the community’s revitalization strategy included improvements on drainage, pedestrian and street traffic, parks and lighting.
In a move to renew the county’s focus on these initiatives for the community, the Samoset Neighborhood Association was organized last May. Already, a signature campaign amongst residents is underway for the installation of streetlights through the creation of a Samoset lighting district.
Revitalization is likewise on the horizon this 2017 for a prominent Samoset neighbor, the DeSoto Square Mall, which was reported in December as sold to a yet unidentified buyer. This new owner, according to initial reports, plans a multi-million dollar makeover for the shopping center to turn it into a family-oriented retail establishment.
The timeline reported for the renovation project is eight to 10 months. By mid-2017, the DeSoto Square’s movie house is expected to reopen as a first-run theater; it closed last spring after operating for some time as a venue for second-run films.
This positive turn of events for the DeSoto mall plus the Samoset revitalization should provide some zip to residential properties at the Hill Park and Oakwood subdivisions. Both ideal hunting grounds for snowbirds, investors, and first-time home buyers, Bradenton homes for sale in this neighborhoods typically start in the $100s, featuring floor areas of around 1,000 to 1,200 square feet.
Tangelo Park west of Samoset is one nearby option for attractively priced Bradenton homes for sale likewise priced around the $100s and at approximately the same square footages. Available properties in this community move pretty quick in the market, with several residences sold in 2016 within the week of their listing on the MLS.
The local attractions in this locality include not only the De Soto Square Mall but also alternative retail centers such Cortez Plaza, Western Way, and Orange Blossom Plaza. The Greens of Manatee, an 18-hole public executive golf course and driving range, is in this area too and likewise stands to draw some lift from the revitalization going in this area south of downtown Bradenton.
SARASOTA, FLORIDA, October 7, 2019 – Property values of communities in the Sarasota-Manatee region now face lesser threat from neighborhood eyesores brought about by abandoned, foreclosed homes. Known in the real estate trade as zombie foreclosures, these properties have shrunk significantly in the region. According to an August report of ATTOM Data Solutions, abandoned […] more>>