$1.25 million sale at Water Club II

The sale of Unit 4 in the 11-story, 86-unit Water Club II tower for $1.25 million was one of three more than $1 million sales that highlighted the 10 realty transactions recorded on the keys during the third week of August.

Elizabeth and John Coughlin, of Topsfield, Mass., bought the unit from Gronwall Properties Inc., of Mississauga, Ontario. The three-bedroom, four-bath condominium at 1281 Gulf of Mexico Drive has 3,054 square feet of living area and was constructed in 1999.

Investors in Gronwall Properties bought the new condo for $895,000 in February 2000.

Bay Isles
The week’s second-largest transaction was the $1,175,000 that Tessa Robinson, of Clarence, N.Y., paid to Jean Mondrala, of Chicago, for her 4,460-square-foot residence at 520 Harbour Cove Circle in Unit One of Bay Isles.

The three-bedroom, four-bath home with a swimming pool was constructed in 1988.

Orchid Beach Club
The largest individual sale of the week was at the twin-tower, 11-story, 54-unit Orchid Beach Residences on Lido Beach at 2050 Ben Franklin Drive, where Maria Longhi, of Tampa, sold her Unit B-903 to Mullen Florida Real Estate LLC, of New York City, for $1,525,000.

The three-bedroom, three-bath condo has 2,936 square feet of living area and was completed in 2005.

Longhi bought the condominium new for $1.79 million in April 2006.

Lido Beach
A post-World War II canal-front home, built in 1947 at 517 S. Polk Drive in Lido Beach, was sold for $795,000 by Vasco Costa Jr. to James Jurick and Karen Wehner, of Sarasota. The three-bedroom, three-bath home has 2,089 square feet of living space and a 60-foot seawall on the canal. The property occupies a .29-acre lot.

Costa bought the property for $285,000 in August 1992.

Islander Club
There was one sale at the 12-story, 140-unit Islander Club at 2295 Gulf of Mexico Drive. Lisa and John Ring, from Alexandria, Va., bought Apartment PH 4-S from S. Arthur Neufeld, of New York City, for $470,000.

Neufeld bought the condo for $159,000 in June 1987. The Islander Club was built in 1970. The two-bedroom, two-bath condo has 1,235 square feet of living area.

Beachplace III
Patricia and Martin Fuller, of Overland Park, Kan., sold their Unit 103 in Building 10 of Beachplace III to Paul and Alexandra Gaughan, from Woodford Green, England, for $390,000. The two-bedroom, two-bath condo at 1065 Gulf of Mexico Drive was constructed in 1981 and has 1,503 square feet of living area.

The condo last sold for $490,000 in September 2003.

Fairway Bay
There was another sale recorded at the 288-unit Arvida-built Fairway Bay along Sarasota Bay on Harbourside Drive. Patricia and Frank Sulzman, from Islip, N.Y., bought Unit 232 in Building M–2 from Danielle and Zev Gurion, of Akron, Ohio, for $355,000.

The condo at 1932 Harbourside Drive with two bedrooms, two baths and 1,192 square feet of living area was built in 1982. The Gurions paid $362,000 for the apartment in July 2004.
Harbour Links

David Novack surrendered his interest via a quit-claim deed in the condominium Unit 2017 in Building D at Harbour Links to Emily Sue Gilchrist, of the same address, for $100,000. The condo last sold for $469,000 in September 2003. The two-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath unit, built in 1989, has 2,212 square feet of air-conditioned living area.

Bird Key
Elaine and Paul Jessop, from Kinross, Scotland, purchased the Bird Key home at 531 Spoonbill Drive from Gail Zawacki, of Weston, Conn., for $650,000. The three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath residence with a swimming pool was constructed in 1967 and has 2,203 square feet of living area. The home last sold for $882,000 in October
2004.

St. Armands Key
Lynn and Michael McDonald, 611 Owl Way, Bird Key, as joint tenants, sold an empty lot on Boulevard of Presidents (Lot 12 in Block 4 of the St. Armands Division of John Ringling Estates) to John Fleming and Richard Orth, both of Sarasota, for $300,000.

The lot last sold during the zenith of the real-estate boom for $582,000.

Robert Hoffman
One of the keys’ leading developers, Robert Hoffman, died Aug. 15, at the age of 82. Together with partner Jack Shire, he built the two tallest buildings on Longboat Key — the twin 15-story Sea Gate Club and Islands West, in addition to the nearby 12-story Islander Club and the St. Armands Towers on Lido
Beach.

Correction
In the Aug. 27 issue, the real-estate transaction between John and Pamela Buff and Secundido and JoAnn Sifuentes was incorrect. The transaction should have stated the Buffs sold their three-bedroom, two-bathroom home at 762 St. Judes Drive N., not their home at 611 St. Judes Drive. The Buffs purchased the home at 762 St. Judes Drive N. for $325,000 in August 2003.

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.

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