Palmetto riverfront site used to be a gas station. Developers plan to build apartments, retail
Shops, rooftop dining, office space and apartments are just some of the amenities proposed for a development along the Manatee River in Palmetto.
The land slated for the development, located just north of the Green Bridge at 834 Riverside Drive, is also mere minutes away from downtown Bradenton.
Palmetto City Commission and the Palmetto Community Redevelopment Agency approved a land deal Monday that will bring the project to fruition.
A Shell gas station was once located on the 3.4 acre parcel of land.
The redevelopment process began in April 2012 when the CRA purchased the land for $1.1 million; it involved two brownfield cleanups to clear the site of the contamination.
Now it will sell for $2.9 million.
The CRA was granted U.S. Environmental Protection Agency funds for the assessment of the property and collected almost $300,000 in tax credits from its remediation, according to CRA Director Jeff Burton.
The property will be sold to Tampa-based Sight Real Estate, which will partner with another Tampa company, SoHo Capital, on the project.
The two companies are behind several mixed-use developments in the Tampa Bay area.
SoHo’s ventures include Armature Works, a popular indoor market featuring vendors and food stalls in the Tampa Heights neighborhood of Hillsborough County. A Sight Real Estate project under construction in downtown St. Petersburg will include more than 200 apartments and more than 11,000 square feet in retail space.
The companies’ vision for the Palmetto site include a four- to eight-story building with a parking garage, 7,500 to 20,000 square feet of retail and office space, a co-work space and 200 to 300 “resort-style” rental apartments.
Apartment pricing will be based on market rates at the time of the project’s completion, Sight Real Estate president Michael Mincberg told Palmetto City Commission before a vote on Monday.
As for entertainment, proposals include a rooftop restaurant, coffee shop, event space and a public courtyard or lobby.
BE-1 Concepts, the restaurant company that created the food hall at Armature Works and is working to open another at Sundial in St. Petersburg, is one of the proposed partners for the project.
Construction is expected to begin in May 2021 and should be complete by May 2022, according to a timeline provided to the city of Palmetto.