- March 28, 2024
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Sales rise dramatically
Residential real estate sales in Sarasota increased to boom-time levels last month.
The 800 total transactions in March were the most since September 2005. There were 580 single-family home sales last month, up 23% from February. Condo sales, a total of 220, were up 10%.
The median sale price for homes rose to $159,250. That's up 16% from the previous month. Condo prices climbed even more dramatically — up 26% to $173,000.
Officials approve project
Construction is under way at Woodbrook in Manatee County, a 213-home and mixed-used project recently approved by county commissioners.
Lakewood Ranch-based Neal Communities is behind the project, on 95 acres at the intersection of Lockwood Ridge Road and Honore Avenue in south Manatee County. The development includes 28,000 square feet of possible retail and office space. Neal Communities President Pat Neal says tenants could include a preschool and a Starbucks.
Neal Communities executives made several changes to the Woodbrook proposal in order to obtain approval from county commissioners.
The amount of commercial space was cut from 109,000 square feet and the types of homes were modified. More than half of the site will be preserved.
Firm announces expansion
Bradenton-based electronics manufacturer Creonix plans to expand its Manatee facility.
The firm also intends to buy new equipment and hire 105 employees over the next five years, according to a release from the Manatee Economic Development Council. The hiring phase of the expansion is supported by $121,000 in performance-based incentives approved by Manatee County.
Creonix has been in the area since it was founded in 1988. Its clients come from the medical, military, aerospace and industrial sectors.
The firm more than doubled revenues in the past year, says company president Ken Piela. That growth will partially pay for the expansion plans.
HART fires Armijo
The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority board of directors dismissed its chief executive, David Armijo, amid employee allegations of a hostile workplace. Armijo has been suspended with pay for the past month.
Armijo, whose annual salary was $185,338, is credited with increasing ridership on HART buses to record levels of more than 1 million passengers monthly. At the same time, he was accused of being unfair in promotions and demotions, and having other conflicts of interest.
HART COO Philip Hale is now in charge of the county's bus system, which has 767 employees and a $62 million budget. Armijo says he will pursue legal action.
OTS OKs bank deal
The Office of Thrift Supervision approved the sale of 19 Bay area offices of BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc. to PNC Bank. The selloff, announced in late January, will allow Fort Lauderdale-based BankAtlantic to focus on its South Florida operations.
Pittsburgh-based PNC agreed to pay a premium to acquire the $350 million in deposits held by the Tampa Bay offices. The transaction is scheduled to close in early June.
PNC currently has no Bay area offices but operates 110 branches throughout Florida, including three in Collier County and one in Sarasota.
Fly to Denmark
Scandinavian tour operator Comefly plans nonstop flights once a week for five weeks this summer between Aalborg, Denmark, and Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers.
Service between the two cities will run from June 21 to July 19 using a 358-seat A330 aircraft operated by Monarch Airlines, a British-based discount airline.
Arthrex expands
Naples-based medical-device manufacturer Arthrex announced plans to build a 160,000-square-foot plant near Ave Maria in eastern Collier County.
Construction is scheduled to begin later this year on the facility on Oil Well Road. Initially, the company plans to hire 150 people and may employ as many as 750 people in the next five years.
This year, the manufacturer of surgical tools hired its 1,000th employee in Naples and forecast $1 billion in revenues. Gov. Rick Scott singled out Arthrex and its founder, Reinhold Schmieding, for job creation in his State of the State address on March 8.
Naples home sales fall
Sales of existing single-family homes in the Naples area fell 7% to 411 in March compared with the same month one year ago, according to the Naples Area Board of Realtors.
However, the median price of an existing single-family home rose 1.4% to $218,000 in March compared with March 2010, the organization reported.
The inventory of existing single-family homes on the market in the Naples area totaled 4,099, a drop of 8% from March 2010.