Port Manatee asks landowners to hold out for industry

PORT MANATEE -- Having repeatedly predicted industry will grow around Port Manatee based on the availability of private land, port officials are urging nearby property owners to hold on to their land.

Port officials took their case to those landowners last month, enlisting a port-specific property adviser to explain why demand for land near the port and the prices paid for it are expected to increase in coming years.

On Sept. 16, Frank Pigna, a managing director with international real estate group Aegir, told a small group of landowners, port staff, elected representatives and economic development officials the roughly 5,000 acres of privately owned land around Port Manatee will be needed for warehousing, manufacturing and trucking and logistics use as shipping and trade grows. The meeting at Port Manatee was not open to the media, but port officials provided a list of attendees afterward.

Pigna said Port Manatee is attractive to companies involved in the overseas shipping trade because it is the only deepwater port on the Gulf Coast with a big bank of land available for industrial and business use. But he and port officials acknowledge the land may not be available indefinitely or exclusively for port-related uses. A planned development encouragement zone Manatee County established around the port allows for a variety of uses, including port-compatible development, housing and farming.

"From a landowner's perspective, there is a unique competitive advantage at Manatee," Pigna said. "They need to analyze their situation to see if it behooves them to look at their property from a traditional standpoint or port-related use."

When and to whom property owners sell will come down to price and timing. Already, industrial-zoned lands are selling for a premium. HRK Holdings, the receiving company that controls the former Piney Point fertilizer facility land just east of the port, sold 8 acres to a Utah-based chemical company for more than $196,000 an acre in January. Manufacturer Air Products purchased 32 acres from HRK in the same area for more than $188,000 an acre in 2012.

Land to be used for residential development near the port has been selling for considerably less. In August 2013, Bradenton developer Carlos Beruff bought 932 acres a few miles east of the port on Buckeye Road for about $5,300 per acre, according to county property records. Beruff attended the Sept. 16 meeting, but did not respond to the Herald's questions on how future port development could impact his holdings.

Carlos Buqueras, the port's executive director, says more high-dollar sales can be expected as the area attracts more port-related industry, and as land becomes scarce. He cited a recent example as a best-case scenario: This year, petroleum logistics and products company Vecenergy paid about $1 million an acre for the last available 6 acres on Port Everglades' property near Fort Lauderdale.

"Twenty years ago, I could not have foreseen that kind of value," said Buqueras, who previously worked as the director of container and cruise lines at Port Everglades.

Vecenergy owns 240 acres of undeveloped industrial land next to Port Manatee it purchased in 2008 for $100,000 an acre, according to records.

Developers' pressure

Some landowners won't be able to or want to wait a decade or two to sell. Developers have put market pressure on the area near the port, buying up hundreds of acres along Moccasin Wallow Road and in other nearby locations to begin building thousands of homes.

Margaret and Sam Mock, who have lived on 17 acres along Buckeye Road for 40 years, don't believe their land will hit the market on the port's timeline. The Mocks listened with interest to Pigna's 90-minute presentation to find out whether all the talk of industrial expansion could mean a lucrative sale for them.

"We really didn't learn much other than the port just sort of wants to reserve your land for future development," said Margaret Mock. "To me it sounded like everything was long range."

The couple's land has generated interest from other quarters. They were approached by a land speculator a few years ago. They expect to have to sell their property sometime in the next few years.

Carol Whitmore, chairwoman of the Manatee County Port Authority, said she knows landowners have a choice when it comes time to sell. Port Manatee, she said, cannot guarantee the land outside its fences will be there when or if industry comes to call. Her hope is that in sharing the port's plans, landowners will be invested in the overall goal.

"They're definitely interested, but they're not going to hold their land forever," she said.

Infrastructure, jobs cited

Alan Jones, a Palmetto-area farmer who owns 790 acres in the port's vicinity, says the key to getting industry and landowners together is infrastructure. Bigger roadways and rail lines will be needed to serve trade at the port and to provide access to the property port-related business would find desirable.

When business comes calling, Jones said he is amenable to selling.

"My No. 1 goal is to have a vibrant community with good-paying jobs," he said.

For the time being, port-related industry is staying close to the port, so very little of the thousands of acres in the around the port-encouragement zone is currently in play. HRK still has more acreage to sell, while Vecenergy plans to lease its property for port industry use. Unlike the Mocks, the Fort Lauderdale-based company has time to look for tenants. It also doesn't have to make a choice about how the land is to be developed, as it is already dedicated for industrial use.

"We know where we stand," said Richard Vogel, the company's director of regulatory affairs.

Pigna said he thinks Manatee County is unusual in that the port, county government and landowners work well together when it comes to planning. He said the county has that track record. In his experience, he said, ports, local government and property owners typically work at odds.

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

This story was originally published October 6, 2014 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Port Manatee asks landowners to hold out for industry."