Longboat Key - St. Armands building sells for $3 million

The sale of the two-story commercial building off St. Armands Circle at 349 Monroe Drive commanded the highest price — $2,995,000 — for sales recordings for the week of Nov. 16 to Nov. 20. The investment group known as Fontanot LLC, Sarasota, bought the building from a Fort Lauderdale-based Maus-owned family trust, which lists its head trustee as J. Walter McCrory.

Constructed in 1964, the building houses European Alterations by Toni and offices of David S. Trotochau and M.W. Development & Investments and formerly housed Maus-Hoffman, Inc. The building has 10,000 square feet of space on a 5,000-square-foot lot.The building last sold for $1,225,000 in July 1991.

Country Club Shores
The largest sale among the four sales on Longboat Key was the $2.1 million that Sylvia and Richard Gilliam paid to Patrice and Ronald Pantello, of 560 Hornblower Lane, for their home at 580 Wedge Lane in Country Club Shores Unit III.

The 43-year-old home has three bedrooms and two baths, a swimming pool and 1,783 square feet of living area. The Pantellos bought the home for $1,295,000 in January 2005.

Grand Bay II
Mildred and Robert Rosenthal, Sarasota, sold their Unit 221 in the second building of the 272-unit Grand Bay condominium to Joe Henson for $1.1 million. The three-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath apartment was constructed in 1996 and has 2,781 square feet of living area.

Spanish Main Yacht Club
William Gambill bought Unit 54 at 933 N. Spanish Main Yacht Club and a one-eighth interest in Unit 60 from Joan and Robert Sirgant, of 274 Robin Drive, Bird Key, for $565,000. The two-bedroom and two-bath condo was built in 1967 as the first condominium project on Longboat Key. Sands Point sometimes claims that distinction, except that it began as an apartment complex before eventually converting to condominium ownership.

The Sirgants’ condo has 1,429 square feet of living area. Spanish Main Yacht Club has a total of 212 dwelling units.

Simultaneously, the Sirgants turned around after selling their Spanish Main condo and bought the Bird Key home at 274 Robin Drive from Agneta and Ola Wettergren, of Sarasota, for $799,000.

Built in 1961, the three-bedroom and two-bath house has a swimming pool and 2,702 square feet of living space. The Wettergrens bought the home for $218,500 in September 1995.

Seaplace IV
There was one sale at Longboat Key’s largest condominium complex, the 461-unit Seaplace. Archibald Kenyon Jr., of Wakefield, R.I., sold his Unit G6-401 at Seaplace IV to Teresa and Joseph Scaring, from Loudonville, N.Y., for $465,000, including parking spaces L.C.E. P-406 and L.C.E. P-407.

The three-bedroom and two-bath condo at 1955 Gulf of Mexico Drive was constructed in 1978 and has 1,492 square feet of living area.

$2.45 million tops Bird Key sales
Four of the nine sales on the keys were consummated on Bird Key. The largest was the $2.45 million that Sheila and Brian Jellison, of Sarasota, paid to Rose and Ronald Heurich for their home at 227 Robin Drive.

The three-bedroom and three-bath sea-walled, waterfront home was one of the first houses built on Bird Key in 1962. It has 2,761 square feet of air-conditioned living area. The Heurichs bought the home for $550,000 in July 1989.

Mikel McNeelan, of Sarasota, sold his Bird Key home at 662 Mourning Dove Drive to William Morgan for $905,000. The three-bedroom and three-bath house with a swimming pool has 2,452 square feet of living space. McNeelan paid $1.55 million for the property in October 2007.

The Bird Key home at 628 N. Owl Drive was purchased for $585,900 by Carolyn Parker from Heather and Sisir Dhar, of Terre Haute, Ind. The three-bedroom and two-bath home was built in 1969 and has 2,534 square feet of air-conditioned living area and a swimming pool.

The Dhars paid $440,800 for the home in August 2000.

Correction
The Nov. 19 “Key real estate” column incorrectly identified a transaction involving the property at 567 Bird Key Drive. Robert Bartolotta transferred the property to himself and his wife, Mary Bartolotta.

Kent Chetlain is a veteran Florida journalist and historian, a former Manatee County commissioner and a holder of a Florida real-estate license. He has chronicled real-estate activity in this area since 1957.