In a stretch of northern Manatee County once better known for farmland, a new kind of development is breaking ground. Kolter Multifamily, the rental housing division of Delray Beach-based Kolter Group, is moving forward with construction on Alton Palmetto, a 276-unit apartment complex just south of the I-275 interchange at 2307 89th St. E. in Palmetto. The project, which spans roughly 12 acres, will bring four-story garden-style apartment buildings to a rapidly changing corridor along U.S. 41 that's minutes from the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Site work is slated to begin within the next 30 days, and the development is expected to welcome its first residents in fall 2026.

Alton Palmetto is a rental-only community featuring one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments ranging from 661 square feet to 1,188 square feet, with rents expected between $1,650 and $2,550.

“We expect it will attract young professionals, families and downsizers,” says Jeff Kruse, managing director at Kolter Multifamily. Despite increased inventory for home buyers across the region, this type of for-rent housing is still an “undersupplied market,” Kruse says.

He points to the area’s growth both in population and job growth as reasons why. Manatee County, home to roughly 441,000 residents in 2023 (the latest data available), ranks 15th in population among Florida’s 67 counties, and eighth in the number of residential permits issued. In 2015 the county issued just 3,619 residential permits; that figure doubled to 7,472 permits in 2024. Between 2021 and 2023, Manatee County averaged more than 8,000 permits annually—the highest levels since the 1990s. CareerSource Suncoast projects a 13 percent increase in local employment by 2030, driven largely by growth in logistics, construction and healthcare. The Manatee Chamber of Commerce also reports that the county has the largest manufacturing job base in the region.

The approved site plan shows five residential buildings arrayed around a central stormwater retention pond. A clubhouse near the entrance will include a fitness center, a co-working space and a coffee lounge, while outdoor amenities include a pool deck facing the pond, grilling areas and a fenced dog park with an air-conditioned pet spa. “We wanted to keep things walkable and integrate the outdoors into everyday life,” Kruse says.

Public records show that Kolter Multifamily bought the roughly 12-acre site—made up of three parcels along 89th Street East—for $3.8 million in October 2022. At the time, the land was still zoned for agricultural and low-density residential use. It was officially rezoned the following year to allow for the apartment project. While no formal contingency is noted in the public documents, the timing suggests the purchase may have been tied to Kolter securing the necessary approvals to proceed with development.

To the immediate south of the site is the Winterset RV Resort and mobile home community, one of several longstanding residential enclaves along the corridor. The plan also includes a roughly 20,000-square-foot commercial pad under separate ownership. Kruse says tenants have yet to be announced.

The development’s strategic location leverages a booming employment corridor: within a five-minute radius sit major employers such as Amazon, Tropicana and Feld Entertainment, totaling more than 5,000 jobs. “We can serve local workers or be the residence for the commuter with the proximity to major roads,” Kruse says.

Once seen as a more rural alternative to Parrish’s sprawling suburban growth, Palmetto is evolving into a denser community. The opening of a new Marriott resort and progressing retail along the U.S .41 corridor underscore that transition. “It’s quite the area now… you’ve got the Ellenton side, Riverside, the 41 corridor. It’s not rural anymore,” Kruse says.

Alton Palmetto joins other recent Kolter complexes in the region, following Alton Osprey—252 units poised to begin leasing—and Alton Lakehouse in Lakewood Ranch, a 350-unit four-story community delivering its first phases later this summer. “We typically build the 250- to 400-unit, four- and five-story garden-style product,” he says. “It’s our bread and butter. We’re not trying to be the priciest in town. We want high-end feel with a practical reach.”

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