Key Real Estate: Sales Slow to Three

Just three real-estate sales occurred on Longboat and its surrounding keys during the week of Sept. 13 through Sept. 17, making the week the slowest thus far in 2010. Of the week’s sales, all three occurred in the Sarasota County portion of Longboat Key.

Sea Horse Beach Resort
William and Janice Salisbury, of Boyne City, Mich., sold Unit 236 at the 41-unit Sea Horse Beach Resort, 3453 Gulf of Mexico Drive, to Nancy and Robert Guernsey Jr., 584 Outrigger Lane, for $180,000. Built in 1960, the 368-square-foot unit has one bedroom and one bathroom. It last sold for $185,000 in May 2002.

The Colony Beach & Tennis Resort
Jette Pidgeon and Martin Garding, of Huntsville, Ala., sold Unit 213-N at The Colony Beach & Tennis Resort, 1620 Gulf of Mexico Drive, to Andrea Brown, as trustee of the ACG Team Trust, of Ann Arbor, Mich., for $75,000. The unit has 1,128 square feet of living space. It last sold for $100,000 in September 1991.

Brown also purchased Unit 153-S at the Colony from Delores and Michael DeFazio Jr., Debra Vojtsek and Christine Bowden, all of Arlington Heights, Ill., for $59,000. The unit has 705 square feet. The unit last sold for $95,000 in June 1983. Both units were built in 1973.

Whitney Beach sale looks likely
The sale of Whitney Beach Plaza could close by the end of October, but it’s unlikely that a nationally known gourmet grocery store will be moving into the 35,000-square-foot shopping center.

According to listing agent Tina Rudek, of Engel & Völkers Longboat Key, a Boston-based development company that specializes in shopping centers put down a nonrefundable deposit on the property Friday and is exploring multiple concepts for the property, including the possibility of putting in a coffee shop and restaurant. The name of the company and the contract and deposit amount remain confidential.

The property went under contract in June with an Atlanta-based company whose client wanted to bring what Rudek described as a “huge national brand” grocery store to the north-Key shopping center. It has since abandoned its plans.

A foreclosure sale is scheduled for Nov. 2, according to a notice of sale filed at the Manatee County Courthouse. But Rudek said she is optimistic that the commercial short sale will close before then, possibly in late October.

“Typically when the buyer puts down the deposit, they follow through with the closing,” Rudek said. “But in today’s real-estate market, you can’t count your chickens before they hatch.”

Contact Robin Hartill at [email protected].