- September 13, 2024
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Construction for Manatee County’s upcoming learning center on Longboat Key was delayed this summer, but the project manager hopes to get the project off the ground once permits are in hand.
The LBK North Learning Center is a project that will bring a Manatee County learning center and community space to Whitney Plaza on the island’s north end. Construction and operating expenses will all be covered by the county.
Project Manager Simona Brinkman was brought on board earlier this year and communicated early on with Longboat Key North, a coalition of 28 condominium and homeowners associations on the north end. The group was interested in the project for its ability to provide adult education, meeting space and art studio space for residents.
Around the start of June, permits were submitted to the town’s Planning, Zoning and Building Department. Brinkman said she learned from the town’s permit feedback that the building was subject to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s “50% rule.”
This was not anticipated, according to Brinkman, and delayed the project until the team could prove that the cost of improvements was under 50% of the structure’s value.
To start, Brinkman said an outside appraiser was brought in to get a market value estimate for the building. The county holds the lease for the largest unit in Whitney Beach Plaza, which is 6,140 square feet. The plaza is owned by Porter Investment Holdings Inc.
The appraisal set the building’s value at $3 million.
Brinkman also received a guaranteed maximum price from the contractor. The construction cost is estimated to be about $1,492,000 to build out the space. According to Brinkman, minor changes had to be made and some things needed to be cut to make sure the construction cost was less than 50% of the building’s value.
This information gave the county all the background material necessary before going back to the town. Brinkman said all the corrections have been made and questions answered to avoid further delays.
Now the permits are under review again by the town’s Planning, Zoning and Building Department. According to Brinkman, construction is estimated to last about seven months once the contractor has permits in hand.
That means construction could take until spring 2025, whereas original estimates before this delay had construction finishing at the end of this year.
Talks about a Manatee County space on Longboat Key have been in the works for about three or four years, according to LBK North Co-Chair Maureen Merrigan. Merrigan was also a former Longboat Key commissioner who was on the board when the discussions first arose.
Progress was slow for a couple of years, but then in July 2023, the town held a public input session to hear from residents about what they wanted from the space. Early ideas focused on crafting classes, community meeting space and adult education opportunities.
Manatee County entered into a lease in January for the space at 6810 Gulf of Mexico Drive. The lease payments are $11,256.67 a month, or about $135,080 for the first year.
Around that same time, the county also specified that programming for the space would be overseen by Manatee Technical College and, more specifically, Paul Gansemer, executive director for the Adult, Career and Technical Education department.
The county’s space will include multipurpose space, art studio space, computer space, meeting space and room for an office, reception area, lounge seating and storage.
With continued interest in the project, LBK North started a subcommittee called the North End Space Team (NEST) led by resident Jill Ball.
Ball and her committee began communicating with Brinkman and talking through ideas that focused on community, recreation and the arts.
“I would say the biggest voices, or the largest group, I would have to say right now is the arts,” Ball said in a previous article. “And I think that stems from the prior arts center that was in the Village. That was very well-received and highly attended, and I think that the population of folks that are still here are excited to have an arts focus as a part of this learning center.”
Communications have been ongoing with Brinkman and the LBK North team, most recently with the construction updates. Future progress on the site is delayed until the town approves the building permits.
