Luxury Homefront

MARKET WATCH
An unusually big beachfront parcel in the Sanderling Club—with a $14.5 million price tag to match—came on the market in early March, and listing agents Tom Cail III and Jason Grande of Michael Saunders & Company say prospective buyers are already bringing their architects by for a look-see. The three-acre beachfront parcel, with 270 feet of beachfront at 8068 and 8020 Sanderling Road, has a remodeled 4,500-square-foot, four-bedroom home, built in 1967, on the south property and a boarded-up structure on the north property. “We couldn’t find anywhere on the west coast of Florida you could find a three-acre parcel like this, not with 270 feet of beachfront,” says Cail. “It’s truly one of a kind.”

GREAT VALUE
How low did short-sale listings go this winter? How about a 1,753-square-foot Siesta Towers corner penthouse with Gulf views in all directions, purchased at the top of the market in 2006 for $1,741,000, listed at press time for $875,000? The two-bedroom, two-bath condo at 4822 Ocean Blvd. on Siesta Key, built in 1973, has been completely renovated and boasts two outdoor entertaining areas: a 25-foot by 14-foot terrace and a 75-foot screened lanai that captures the westerly vistas. Nancy Spinks and Samuel Luque Jr. of Prudential Palms Realty are the listing agents. But Mary Beth Hudson, manager of Prudential Palms’ downtown office, doesn’t expect the penthouse to be available much longer. “Market activity has picked up tremendously,” she told us in early March. “It’s hot.”

Top of the Market
A Bird Key waterfront home with Sarasota Bay and skyline views, originally listed a year ago for $6.5 million, sold for $4.2 million, making it the highest-priced sale in February. The 6,700-square-foot-plus residence at 429 Meadow Lark Drive, built in 2002, has four bedrooms and five baths on two levels, marble and cherry wood floors and a chef’s kitchen. Audrey Singer and Jill Singer of Michael Saunders & Company were the listing agents; Roger Pettingell of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate was the selling agent. Sales information provided by Kim Ogilvie of Michael Saunders & Company.

Green Report
Watch the Birdie
We discovered the perfect nest in the courtyard of the 1950s-era Seibert Home at the Jewels on the Bay Showhouse this winter: the Birdy chair, manufactured by Koji Collection from nuisance vines that grow like gangbusters in South America. Credit Kimberly Doucette of Sarasota’s Environmental Interiors Design Studio for the find. “I just love the chair for that space,” she says. “It has that outdoor connection that was such a big focus for that very modern and very minimal home.” $2,250. Contact Doucette at Studioei.com. 

Neighborhood Watch
Country Club Shores
Country Club Shores was developed as a community of humble concrete-block vacation homes in the 1960s—lots farthest from the open bay sold for less than $10,000. Today it’s a testament to how much Longboat Key has changed. All of the 395 homes have undergone some kind of cosmetic work, says Roger Pettingell of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, and about half have been rebuilt to meet flood rules. That means big and tall, with price tags to match, but more affordable deals can still be found on the 5 percent of homes that are not waterfront. “Generally, the market is very stable here,” says Pettingell. “Demand and supply are pretty much in synch. At the height of the real estate boom, there was a low of 11 listings; it’s stable now at around 40 listings—10 percent of available homes. There was some short sale bank-related activity a year ago; that’s all but gone now.” Home owners here tend to be more year-round and steady six-monthers than in other parts of the key; Pettingell says some actually live in Sarasota and use their properties as boat houses and weekend homes. “It’s a know-your-neighbor kind of place, which you don’t have a lot of anymore,” says Pettingell, a former Country Club Shores resident for seven years.

Country Club Shores
Total number of Country Club Shores properties: 395
Total number of sales from 2/2009 to 2/2010: 19
Range of sale prices: $320,000 to $2.1 million
Range of square footage: 1,200 to 4,200 square feet