SARASOTA, FLORIDA, January 30th 2017 – Prospects for the housing sector in the Manatee‒Sarasota area loom bright this 2017, with the strong economic indicators and sound economic policies noted in the region recently.
A robust recovery in new home construction was seen as one of the major growth drivers for the area’s economy. During the 2016 third quarter, local housing starts revved up to their fastest pace in a decade. Data from the analytics firm Metro study showed that builders broke ground on 1,488 single-family homes in Manatee and Sarasota in the July‒September period last year, up 14.5 percent from 2015.
On employment, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity said 9,800 new jobs were added in the region from 2014 to 2015 for a 3.1 percent gain. In the 2010‒2015 period, jobs created rose 17.2 percent to 48,041 new positions in Manatee and Sarasota. The region ranked third in the country in terms of job growth in 2014‒2015 and ninth in the five-year 2010‒2015 period.
Largely as a result of these solid gains, the Sarasota-Manatee area leaped in the 2016 big-city economic performance ranking by the Milken Institute. The two-county region jumped 18 rungs to 26th place from its 44th ranking in 2015.
There’s reason to be optimistic that the region’s economic fortune could improve further this year. Significantly, construction isn’t the only industry sector propelling job growth in the region. Education and health care have also seen an upswing in job growth as of late.
In Sarasota, high hopes are pinned on fresh business opportunities and job generation from the new hotels with close to a total of 1,000 rooms that are being constructed in its downtown area. Manatee, on the other hand, is drawing strengths from its infrastructure improvements, public/private partnerships and its tax incentives attracting new business locators.
Allied New Technologies 2 Inc., the largest chlorine re-packer in the southeastern U.S. is one of the latest firms Manatee has drawn. This company, which is also the largest manufacturer of sodium hypochlorite in Florida will set up a manufacturing facility on 12 acres near Port Manatee.
With a capital investment $53.8 million, this facility will create 53 jobs, which will be sourced locally. It is estimated that this company will bring in $1.3 million in taxes to the county and $2.9 million to the Manatee County School District over a 10-year period. Initially, the venture will enjoy a $1.2 million tax exemption as an incentive.
The Allied New Technologies facility will be built on 12 acres at 2815 Inland Transport Street in Palmetto. Its area in northeast Manatee is notably also one of the current hotspots for new residential developments in the Southwest Florida region.
On Buckeye Road, a corridor just south of the Allied facility’s site, the planned Stonegate Preserve community was approved in December by the Manatee County Commission. This new development in Parrish sits on 415 acres programmed for 791 homes, a community center and a school. It is located south of the mixed-use Newport Isles project planned for a total of about 1,700 residences and 60,000 square feet of commercial space. Another development close by is the Eagle Pointe suburb opposite I-75 near the Artisan Lakes community.
Existing communities which may benefit from the vibrant economic mood on this side of Manatee include Gillette Grove and North Oaks Estates. Both are located just about two miles south of the Allied New Technologies’ Palmetto site. Available homes here are typically priced around the $200s, an attractive price range which should add a vibrant note to the prospects of the local housing sector.
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>>