Moving company moves into new Manatee space

Sunshine Movers, a family-owned moving company, is scheduled to officially open its new facility in southern Manatee County Jan. 15, though it has been operating out of it for about two months. 

The 30,000-square-foot warehouse is at 1755 W. University Parkway, just west of U.S. Highway 301. 

Sunshine Movers was founded in 2014 with two trucks and was operating out of a 3,000-square-foot office with limited warehouse spaces. 

Today, it has a fleet of 15 trucks with more than 40 employees. The new climate-controlled building houses the company’s vault storage division, fleet operations and training programs, according to a statement. 

The new space allows the company to handle a larger volume of moves and support ongoing hiring programs. 

Blake Fitzpatrick, Sunshine Movers’ owner, in an email, says, “moving companies have very specific operational needs, and there aren’t many buildings that check all the boxes. This one was originally built by a moving company, so it has everything we need." 

According to Manatee property records, the property is owned by a Pennsylvania company named Dac Realty. It paid $1.86 million for it in 2008.