Sarasota parcel sells for $8.3 million

It took eight years of marketing, but Michael Saunders & Co. commercial agent Lee DeLieto Sr. has closed on the sale of an eight-acre tract in downtown Sarasota that was the city's most infamous casualty of the past decade's economic recession.

With its purchase, David Weekley Homes intends to build 135 townhomes and other residences on the site, now occupied by a derelict former Scotty's home improvement store and other warehouses.

The Houston-based company, the nation's largest privately held homebuilder, paid $8.3 million for the land, which a decade ago had been slated for as many as 460 homes. David Weekley intends to connect the property to the city's Payne Park nearby with pedestrian-friendly elements.