SARASOTA, FLORIDA, May 12th, 2016 – The centennial celebration of the National Park Service (NPS) this year extends to Bradenton with activities centered at the De Soto National Memorial which too is a magnet for many residential communities northwest of the city.
The NPS was formed on August 25, 1916 for the stewardship of U.S. national parks and engaging communities through programs on recreation, conservation, and historic preservation. The De Soto National Memorial, on the other hand, was established on March 11, 1948 to commemorate the historic landing of Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in Florida in 1539, chronicled as the first European exploration of the southern United States. Like other NPS- administered parks, De Soto is also listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Centennial activities set at the 26-acre De Soto National, which sits at the mouth of the Manatee River, include free ranger-led kayak tours on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sunday mornings starting May 6 of 2016. Free junior ranger summer camps for age 6‒10 kids are also set June 21‒24 and July 26‒29, with signups beginning June 1.
Activities at the memorial that visitors can enjoy include artifacts exhibits at its newly renovated Visitor Center and movie showing of a film about the De Soto expedition and the local Native Americans. From December to April, living history demonstrations are held which culminate in a grand parade and reenactment of De Soto’s Tampa Bay landing organized by Bradenton’s Hernando De Soto Historical Society. The memorial’s park features nature trails with guided walks, in addition to opportunities for bird watching, picnicking, fishing, and boating.
According to a recent NPS report, the De Soto National Memorial attracted a total of 316,270 visitors in 2015, in the process generating $22.5 million for the local economy. This amount represents revenues from tourist spending on admissions and fees, souvenirs, food and beverages, gas and oil, and lodging.
The De Soto National Memorial, at the same time, serves as an attraction to some nearby Bradenton residential communities. One of these neighborhoods is Riverview Landings which offers some upscale choices in the MLS of Sarasota homes for sale.
Consisting of some 50 residences, this community is located just west of the park. Typical listings amongst Sarasota homes for sale here include spacious, million-dollar residences with floor plans in the 5,000-square-foot range. Other sales-listed properties at Riverview Landings are priced from the $400s to the $600s, featuring floor plans between 3,600 and 4,400 square feet.
Shaws Point just east of De Soto National is another community that most realtors would put on their watch list. Available properties in this neighborhood don’t come along too often, and once one is featured amongst Sarasota homes for sale, it can be grabbed in the market after only a few weeks of its listing.
Pine Meadow also counts amongst northwest Bradenton neighborhoods near the De Soto National Memorial which is a hot spot in expanded searches of Sarasota homes for sale. Its residences offered in the market typically start in the $300s, featuring four bedrooms within floor plans of between 2,200 and 2,500 square feet and only a short distance from an endearing national treasure steeped in history.
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>>