A new 148-cottage community called Hunters Point is planned for Cortez

Marshall Gobuty’s motto for a new development in Cortez is “less is more.”

Gobuty, 55, the developer behind west Bradenton community Mirabella Florida, launched the website on Wednesday for Hunters Point, a new community he hopes to develop in Cortez.

Hunters Point would have 148 “cracker” cottages designed to bring “a modern, environmentally respectful and energy efficient fishing village style community,” to the area, according to a release from Gobuty.

Hunters Point comes from Cortez’s original name when it was settled in the 1800s. The cottages would have roughly 400 square feet of interior space with more via roof and wrap-around decking. The small-house concept is meant to appeal to retirees who want less space to manage as well as the millennial generation.

“Younger people care about the environment and with younger people, less is more,” Gobuty said. “This is less is more. The question is, ‘How much do you really need?’ ”

While typical cracker-style homes used wooden frames, the Hunters Point cottages would be built using steel frames. This, along with impact windows and other structural reinforcements, are necessary to make the homes hurricane-proof, Gobuty said.

The nearly 14-acre peninsula Gobuty plans the development on is encased by a thin canal, which would allow for up to 49 boat slips, according to the release. Because of the waterfront aspect and proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, Gobuty estimates prices for the cottages would start in the mid-$250s.

Additionally, more than a third of the cottages would be designed as hotel rooms for short-term rental stays.

Staying true to the Cortez architectural style and garnering support from the Cortez community are vital steps in the process of building Hunters Point, Gobuty said.

“One-hundred percent we know that we need their support,” he said. “We will have meetings and take the advice given to ensure we make as many people happy with the evolution to a more-modern approach to the Cortez cottages.”

Gobuty said he has not yet planned the meeting.

He is already aware that traffic will come up as a concern. Like many others in Manatee County, Gobuty sees the traffic problem as solvable with multi-modal transportation.

“You can have your own boat, you can jump on the water taxi or you can ride your bike,” Gobuty said. “We just don’t want you getting in your car.”

He also mentioned golf carts and the island trolley system as solutions.

Jane von Hahmann, a Cortez resident of more than four decades and a former Manatee County Commissioner, was shocked when she first saw Gobuty’s plans. She described the mini master-planned community, located just east of the Cortez Bridge and north of Cortez Road West, as “intense” and “dense.”

“That’s growth over 10 units per acre,” von Hahmann said. “How does he plan to get that many units on this much acreage?”

She was concerned about the lack of green space and when she viewed the Hunters Point rendering on hunterspointfl.com, she balked at the amount of asphalt she saw. Congestion during hurricane evacuations also concerns von Hahmann.

“If he wants any hope of not having a severe uprising, he needs to probably do us the courtesy of having a conversation,” von Hahmann said.

Glen Gibellina, a Manatee County activist, has previously voiced support for small home-type developments in the area, though typically in the context of affordable housing. In a way, he sees this as a more affordable housing option for some than what the Bradenton-Sarasota area currently offers.

“If I had to make a choice between a cracker-style house with enough minimum space that I could live comfortably and have a boat deck for the price of a Medallion or Neal home, I would jump at it,” Gibellina said.

Peter Thurell, a Swede who owned the property until February 2016 when Gobuty bought it for $10 million, attempted a similar residential development on the same property more than a decade ago. He ran into problems with flood insurance requirements, according to Gobuty.

“That took months to get that to figure out how it would work,” Gobuty said of his project. “But they’re insurable because they’re above the flood zone.”

Von Hahmann heard a recent rumor about an upscale RV park, which she said most Cortez residents supported “because this area struggles with space for people who just want to stay a week or two.”

While she supports the idea of more short-term rental space, she’s not sure the Hunters Point development can support it.

“That’s really interesting, to say the least,” von Hahmann said. “They just keep coming at us.”

On Thursday, another nearby master-planned community could be approved by the Manatee County Commission. If Carlos Beruff’s Aqua by the Bay project is approved, von Hahmann sees it as another threat to the coastline and the Cortez Village way of life.

Gobuty knows there are plenty of discussions and months, potentially years of permitting and approval ahead before the development breaks ground. Plans for Hunters Point were submitted to Manatee County on Tuesday, a county building and development services manager confirmed. But no matter how long it takes, von Hahmann is already overwhelmed.

“My plate is so overflowing with things that are happening to this poor village,” she said.

This story was originally published May 3, 2017 at 4:48 PM with the headline "A new 148-cottage community called Hunters Point is planned for Cortez."