Is Central Bradenton Ready to Pop?


 

SARASOTA, FLORIDA, June 24th, 2016 – Some property developments are warming up for takeoff at Central Bradenton, promising to add some more pep to the residential communities in this area that typically offer affordably priced homes like those at Dahlia Gardens and Casa del Sol.

In early June 2016, the Manatee County Commission approved a rezoning of 2303 1st Street to allow residential units on this site at the southeastern corner of U.S. 301 and U.S. 41 occupied by the Knights Inn motel. The county commission’s approval paved the way for the conversion of this property into an affordable housing complex.

This project is an initiative by developer Harvey Vengroff who has a similar undertaking at Fruitville Road east of the Sarasota downtown. His Bradenton venture calls for converting the motel into 240 studio apartments. The rezoning would also allow Vengroff to build 150 two-bedroom apartments in the vacant five-acre parcel adjacent to Knights Inn.

Shakeup Ripe at DeSoto Mall

Is Central Bradenton Ready to Pop?

About a mile south down U.S. 41 from this motel, a shakeup is poised at the DeSoto Square Mall, a 43-year old shopping hub that many locals believe is long overdue for a makeover. The owners of this 678,377-square-foot mall, Mason Asset Management and Namdar Realty, have announced that this property is again for sale.

As per some media reports, many tenants have been leaving the DeSoto Square Mall which is 71 percent full according to its online sales listing. Its current tenants include longtime anchors JC Penney and Sears, while a movie theater and Macy’s are amongst the tenants that have left the mall in recent years.

In 2014, the mall owners auctioned this property but they rejected the final bid of $33.75 million. Industry observers say that passing on that sale and putting the mall on the market now makes more sense. They believe that current economic conditions have buoyed the mall’s value even higher. Namdar and Mason purchased the mall in 2012 at $24.6 million and stand to make more now considering the shopping center’s great potential for future growth.

The mall’s market base Manatee County, for one, has added over 80,000 residents since 2000. Strategically located south of Bradenton’s downtown, the DeSoto Square Mall’s location is fed not only by the U.S. 41 corridor. It is also adjacent to U.S. 301 and 44th Avenue both traversing across a slew of residential communities attracting a lot of interest from searchers of Bradenton homes for sale.

Infill Housing Project

Even in the already heavily developed residential areas northwest of the mall, infill housing projects like Columbus Landings, a new community by Highland Homes, add to the growing dynamism of the Bradenton property market. This new neighborhood occupies the southeast corner of 30th Avenue West and 24th Street West and consists of 10 home sites plus an area for future development.

For Columbus Landings, Highland Homes offers six models with floor areas ranging from 1,367 to 2,179 square feet, designed with three to four bedrooms. Their pricing are quoted at the high $100s up to the $200s range, which are quite competitive compared to pre-owned Bradenton homes for sale in its Central Bradenton locality.

In the nearby Casa del Sol, current listings are likewise in the same price range for pre-owned Bradenton homes for sale with floor plans of between 1,400 and 1,700 square feet. Similarly, at the neighboring Dahlia Gardens, two homes with nearly the same square footages were sold recently at the $170s price range. Notably, one of the sales deals was closed after just 10 days of the residence’s listing, indeed indicative of the perky mood of Central Bradenton’s property market.