Villages at Riverwalk developer buys project land

BRADENTON -- The Atlanta developer planning to build 490 townhomes and condominiums just east of downtown Bradenton has gone all in by buying land for the proposed project.

Through two limited liability corporations, Robert Hatfield purchased 63 lots totaling approximately 21 acres between Riverside Drive East and Manatee Avenue East on Feb. 12. Manatee County records show that Hatfield acquired the property from Wells Fargo Bank for $4 million.

The land is slated to be the site of The Villages at Riverwalk, a "worker friendly" mixed-use development that would bring both new retail and housing to the Glazier-Gates Park area. Hatfield Development Co. and Bradenton-based NDC Construction have partnered to build the project. The city of Bradenton approved a predevelopment agreement in November.

Ron Allen, president of NDC, said the land purchase

is the green light for his company and Hatfield to begin construction budgeting and planning. He expects that ground could be broken sometime in the third quarter of 2015.

"It means that we're now entrenched in it," Allen said of the land purchase.

Hatfield's purchase comes five years after Wells Fargo foreclosed on the land's previous owner, Riviera Southshore Ventures. That company, headed by Frank Maggio of St. Petersburg, planned to build several nine-story residential towers on the property. The project failed during the Great Recession.

For his part, Hatfield has had mixed success in the downtown Bradenton multifamily residential market. In 2009, his Promenade at Riverwalk condominium development in Bradenton was the subject of a foreclosure action by Wachovia Bank. The bank won a $9.6 million judgment.

Hatfield was the general partner for the group that built the 115-unit, eight-story building. The group had planned to build several condo buildings.

Earlier this year, Hatfield Development Co. successfully opened the 179-unit Riversong Apartments next to the former Promenade building. That project is currently leasing.

According to a site plan submitted to the city of Bradenton, Villages at Riverwalk would be bordered by 10th Street East to the west and 14th Street East to the east. As planned, the project compels the city to move Glazier-Gates Park north and west to join with an expanded Bradenton Riverwalk. The former park property would be the site of a portion of the project's housing and 9,000 square feet of proposed retail space. As proposed, the units to be built at the Villages at Riverwalk would be three-story walkups. The development would be nearly contiguous. According to the site plan and Manatee County property records, a half-dozen lots within the project boundaries are not owned by the developer.

Allen said Hatfield has not been able to negotiate purchase prices with the owners that the company feels to be in line with the market. Hatfield may make future offers on the properties.

"I think we are always interested in trying to pursue those," Allen said.

The project is not without detractors. Several members of the Bradenton City Council expressed discomfort with aspects of the predevelopment agreement, including the fact that Hatfield Development did not own the property in November. The council ultimately approved the agreement on a 4-1 vote. Only the city's vice mayor, Bemis Smith, voted against the measure.

Bradenton's planning director, Tim Polk, said Hatfield's land purchase will get the administrative process rolling at City Hall.

"We'll be setting up meeting with him later on this month to talk about the site plan and other issues," he said.

Hatfield's attorney and local representative for the project, Ed Vogler II, did not immediately respond to calls.

Matt M. Johnson, Herald business reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7027, or on Twitter @MattAtBradenton.

This story was originally published March 5, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Villages at Riverwalk developer buys project land ."