Key Real Estate

Reflecting the pending sales increase on the keys, transaction recordings rose from 10 the preceding week to 14 for the week of May 11 through May 15. Three of these topped the $1 million plateau, including the previously reported $4.75 million home sale at 552 S. Spoonbill Drive on Bird Key.

Next was the $1.2 million transaction at L’Ambiance where Joseph Fornasiero, of Clarence, N.Y., sold his Unit B-502 in Phase I to Penny and Paul Thomas, of Missauga, Ontario. The two-bedroom, four-bath condominium has 2,385 square feet of living area and was constructed in 1992 by Yale Properties, of Boca Raton.

Fornasiero paid $1.3 million for the condo in February 2007.

Bird Key
Spoonbill Drive proved popular this week, as the third-biggest sale was recorded at 524 N. Spoonbill Drive, where Susan Stokes, of Charlotte, N.C., paid $1.15 million for the 44-year-old waterfront home.

The seller was William Morgan, of Lakewood Ranch. The 3,168-square-foot home has three bedrooms and two baths, plus a swimming pool.

Morgan paid $1,025,000 million for the home in March.

St. Armands Towers North
Penthouse One at St. Armands Towers North, 1 Ben Franklin Drive, sold for $875,000.

James Cameron and Renata Lumsden and bought the 41-year-old two-bedroom, two-bath condo with 1,389 square feet of living space.

The sellers, William and Carol Gibson, of Barrington, Ill., paid $1 million for the condominium in May 2006.

Beachplace I
Clifford and Joan Christenson, of Lakewood Ranch, sold their Unit 604 in Building 2 at Beachplace I to Terry Fiscus for $800,000. The two-bedroom, two-bath apartment has 1,503 square feet of air-conditioned living space.

Located at 1135 Gulf of Mexico Drive, the condo was constructed by Arvida in 1980.

Harbour Oaks II
Miriam Edlin, of Sarasota, individually and as trustee, sold the home at 2328 Harbour Oaks Drive in the 42-home Harbour Oaks II subdivision to Paul Tippet, the trustee of the Alice Tippet Trust, of Gibsonia, Pa., for $390,000.

Built in 1986, the three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath residence has 2,554 square feet of living area.

Whitney Beach
Herbert Swartz, from Guilford, Conn., paid $275,000 for Unit 139 on the bayside of Whitney Beach condominiums, 6700 Gulf of Mexico Drive.

The sellers were Beth Lewis, of Brandon; Susan Hanson, of Cary, Ill.; and Paula Choyke, of Basking Ridge, N.J.

The two-bedroom, two-bath condo was constructed in 1969 and has 1,404 square feet of living area.

Longboat Key Moorings Marina
There were two sales at the 294-slip Longboat Key Moorings Marina. Dale Walker, of Sarasota, sold his Slip 5 on Pier L to David and Constance Phillips, of Orlando, for $255,000.

Joseph and Kathleen Manfredo, 796 Marbury Lane, bought Slip 14 on E-Pier from Anthony Sarandes, of Ocala, for $125,000.

The Colony Beach & Tennis Club
Betty Pityo, of Cedar Grove, N.J., sold her Clubhouse high-rise Unit 30 at the 232-unit Colony Beach & Tennis Club, 1620 Gulf of Mexico Drive, to Leap Longboat, LLC, of Pittsburgh, for $87,500.

The 897-square-foot apartment was built in 1973. The seller purchased the unit for $56,000 in 1974.

The Sand Dollar, Lido Beach
Ted Martin, and his wife, Barbara Swionder-Martin, of Park Ridge, Ill., bought Unit 1 at The Sand Dollar condominium, 555 Ben Franklin Drive, Lido Beach, for $450,000 from Northern Trust, trustee of the Griffin Ranch Trust, of Addison, Texas.

The three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath apartment has 1,780 square feet of living area and was built in 1984.

Lido Beach
Jim Lampl, of Bird Key, sold his 7,603-square-foot vacant lot at 263 Coolidge Drive, in Lido Beach, to William and Diane Wakely, from Malvern, England, for $425,000.

Lampl bought the lot for $427,500 in 2004.

Lido Shores condominium
There were two sales at the 32-unit Lido Shores condominiums. Lee and Cathy Cohen bought their Lido Shores condominium at 350 S. Polk Drive from Gregory Mott, of Grand Rapids, Mich., for $300,000. The two-bedroom, two-bath apartment was built in 1977 and has 1,036 square feet of living area.

Unit 304 at Lido Shores was sold by Gail Cates Reedy, of Sleepy Hollow, Ill., to Donald and Joan Garetano, of Manasquan, N.J., for $249,000. The 32-year-old condo has two bedrooms, two baths and 1,036 square feet of living area.

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.