Industrial land purchased for $350,000

MANATEE -- Palomino Motors Inc. has recently purchased 8.5 acres of industrial land at 1900 67th Ave. E. in Manatee County from Sunbelt Cranes, Construction & Hauling Inc. for $350,000.

Bob and Roberta Kolton with Michael Saunders & Co. represented the buyer while Tony Veldkamp, CCIM with Sperry Van Ness Commercial Advisory Group represented the seller.

Bradenton building sells for $499,000

MANATEE -- AGP Properties of SW FL Inc. has purchased the 20,000-square-foot industrial building at 6319 17th St. E., Bradenton from M&I Regional Properties LLC. Stan Rutstein, RE/MAX Alliance Group, represented the seller; Carl Wise CCIM, Preferred Commercial Inc. represented the buyer in the $499,000 transaction.

Downtown Sarasota property sells for $1.9M

SARASOTA -- 1100 Central Avenue Corp. has recently closed on the purchase of 8.5 acres of industrial land at 1199 N. Orange Ave. in downtown Sarasota from the seller Gate Precast Co. for $1,900,000.

Tony Veldkamp, CCIM with Sperry Van Ness Commercial Advisory Group handled the transaction.

First Bank raises money for United Way

MANATEE -- Nearly $8,000 raised by First Bank employees for United Way of Manatee County and Tampa Bay.

Finishing 18 percent over last year's goal, $7,940 was raised by First Bank staff for United Way partner agencies in Manatee County and Tampa Bay during the 2012 Annual United Way Employee Campaign throughout October.

4 new models open at Grand Palm

VENICE -- Neal Communities has unveiled four new models at Grand Palm in Venice. Two models will be from the new home builder's cottage series and two are from the villa series.

The four new models bring the total model count to 10 at the largest master-planned community of its kind in Venice, which opened in September.

U.S. budget deficit grows by $260M in December

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. annual budget deficit is on track to reach $1 trillion for a fifth straight year, though government revenue jumped last month as people paid some taxes early to avoid higher rates in 2013.

The Treasury Department said Friday that the federal deficit grew by just $260 million in December.

But for the first three months of the budget year, the deficit widened to $292 billion.

In December, tax revenue rose 12 percent to $270 billion. Spending fell 17 percent to nearly the same amount.

-- Herald staff and wire reports