Lido Shores home sells for $7,423,500

A 5,989-square-foot home at 1301 Westway Drive on the Sarasota side of New Pass sold July 17 for $7,423,500.

Purchasing the four-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bath home, with a swimming pool on a tract of more than a half-acre, were Anne and Robert Essner, of Morristown, N.J.

The seller was Sole Investments, a Florida limited-liability company with a New York City address. Signing the deed of sale for Sole Investments was its manager/managing member, Gianluigi Vittadini, husband of renowned designer Adrienne Vittadini.

Lisa Rooks Morris, of Prudential Palms Realty, negotiated the sale of the three-year-old home; the listing agent was Linda Roe Dickinson, of Michael Saunders & Co.

The sale price is the highest for a single-family home on the keys so far this year.

Sole Investments acquired the property for $1.89 million in October 2002 from Joan and Melvin Simmons, before razing the existing home and building the new one in 2005 and 2006.

Interestingly, Sole Investments sold the home March 24, 2005, at the height of the recent real-estate boom for $8,847,000 to Idlewild Associates, a Delaware limited-liability company based in Gladwyne, Pa. At the time, Phillip Chmieleski, of Sarasota, was listed as the managing member of Sole Investments.

There is no sale listed in the Sarasota County Clerk of the Circuit Court’s records showing when Sole Investments re-acquired the property from Idlewild Associates, which would indicate that Idlewild might have turned back the title to the property to Sole before its sale to the Essners July 17.

Gulfside Road
The largest transaction on Longboat Key for recordings the week of July 13 through July 17 was the $1,995,000 that Terri and Mark Fishman, of Novelty, Ohio, paid to Carol Lee Woodley, of Johns Creek, Ga., for her home at 6517 Gulfside Road with 100 feet on the Gulf beach.

The three-bedroom, two-bath home was built in 1979 and has 1,816 square feet of living area on about a half-acre lot.

Sabal Cove
Judith and Vincent Galluccio, of Woodstock, Vt., sold their home at 3308 Sabal Cove Lane to Kenneth Schneier and Cynthia Craig, of Livingston, N.J., for $1.55 million.

The three-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bath home has 4,112 square feet of living area with a swimming pool. It was constructed in 1993.

The Galluccios paid $383,500 for the home in December 2000.

Water Club II
Janice and John Connor II, of Lakewood Ranch, purchased Unit 1005 at the 86-unit Water Club II tower from the Willard Askew Marital Trust and the Barbara Helen Askew Trust, both of Palm Beach. JPMorgan
Chase Bank served as co-trustee to both trusts, as did Glenn Kenney, of Wilmette, Ill.

The Connors bought the condominium in separate purchases of $675,000, for a total $1.35 million. The two-bedroom, three-bath, condominium at 1281 Gulf of Mexico Drive has 2,667 square feet of living area.

The Players Club II
Linda and Peter Ansley, of London, Ontario, sold their Unit 101 at The Players Club II to Monica and Simon Gill, from Darien, Conn., for $687,500.

The three-bedroom, three-bath apartment at 1465 Gulf of Mexico Drive has 2,083 square feet of living area and was built in 1981. The condo last sold for $250,000 in May 1987.

Beachplace II
Kathleen and David Weeks, from Morristown, N.J., bought Unit 101 in Building 5 at Beachplace II from Carol and Ronald Carpenter, of Bemidji, Minn., for $486,000. The two-bedroom, two-bath condo at 1105
Gulf of Mexico Drive has 1,172 square feet of living space.

It was built by Arvida Corp. in 1981. The Carpenters purchased the apartment for $383,500 in December 2000.

Seaplace II
Jennifer Stroehmann, of Dearborn, Mich., sold her Unit 3-9 H in M-I at Seaplace II to Mark Hullinger, of Lakewood Ranch, for $480,000.

The two-bedroom, two-bath condo at 2045 Gulf of Mexico Drive has 1,265 square feet of living area and was constructed in 1974.

Windward Bay
Joseph Gallagher and Bethann Powers, from West Chester, Pa., bought Unit 206 in Building F at the 151-unit Windward Bay condominium from Linda and Jerry Brunk, of Lincoln, Neb., for $319,100.

The late I.Z. Mann built the two-bedroom, two-bath condo with 1,152 square feet of living area in 1975.

The Brunks bought the condo for $164,500 in May 2000.

Bayport Beach & Tennis Club
Audrey Roebling sold her apartment Unit 842 in Building F-1 at the 136-unit Bayport Beach & Tennis Club to the Hobbs Family Trust, of Essex, N.Y., for $300,000. The two-bedroom, two-bath condo at 842 Bayport Way has 1,260 square feet of living area and was built in 1983.

Roebling acquired the apartment for $148,800 in May 1993.

Spanish Main Yacht Club
At the 212-unit Spanish Main Yacht Club, Sarah and Steven Mancuso, from Guilford, Conn., paid $190,000 to Erica and Rudolph Roesel, of Chicago, for Unit 34 at 773 N. Spanish Drive.

The two-bedroom, two-bath residence was constructed in 1969 and has 1,393 square feet of living space.

The Colony Beach & Tennis Resort
In a corporate acquisition, Cinitel Corp., of Toronto, sold Unit 243-S in Building 7 at the 232-unit Colony Beach & Tennis Resort to Cinimor Holdings, Inc., an Ontario corporation based in Ocoee, west of Orlando.

The sale price was $143,000. The apartment last sold for $181,000 in May 2008. The 36-year-old condo at 1620 Gulf of Mexico Drive has 1,128 square feet of living area.

Signing the deed of sale for Cinitel was its chairman, Paul Morton.

St. Armands Key
Victoria Smart, of La Jolla, Calif., sold her St. Armands Key home at 354 Monroe Drive to Melissa and James Fazzone for $625,000. Built in 1950, the four-bedroom, three-bath home has a swimming pool and 2,112 square feet of living area.

In a second St. Armands home sale, local real-estate investor/trader Hubert Steenbakkers, 192 N. Washington Drive, sold the 57-year-old home at 106 N. Blvd. of the Presidents to Stephen Maddox for $450,000. Steenbakkers paid $270,000 for the home in July 2003.

The three-bedroom, two-bath residence has a swimming pool and 1,824 square feet of air-conditioned living area.

Lido Surf & Sand
Randall Lasley and Ronald Bates, of Cincinnati, bought Unit 303 at Lido Surf & Sand from Lynn Tanner, of New York City, for $520,000. The property last sold for $640,000 in August 2003.

The two-bedroom, two-bath condo at 1100 Ben Franklin Drive was built in 1976 and has 1,494 square feet of living area.

Bird Key
Augusto Cuellar purchased the Bird Key home at 649 S. Owl Drive from Bank of America, of Mendota Heights, Minn., for $439,900.

The property last sold for $450,000 in March 2008. The 38-year-old, three-bedroom, two-bath home has a swimming pool and 2,183 square feet of living space.

Sales triple in one week
Real-estate sales on the keys soared from the preceding week’s five to 15 for the week of July 13 through July 17.

In addition to the blockbuster $7,423,500 home sale on New Pass, there were three other transactions of $1.35 million or higher.

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.