North Port Awakens - Fall 2015

The Toledo Blade Boulevard corridor and the municipality of North Port are experiencing a renaissance that positions them for tremendous future growth.

More than any other submarket, Sarasota County’s largest city as measured by land mass and overall population has rebounded from the doldrums of the recession with new projects and renewed potential.

Along Toledo Blade Boulevard, where traffic has increased 12 percent or by 1,800 vehicles daily over the past year, there are currently five major new developments: The Suncoast Technical College; outparcels tied to the Price Crossing and Suncoast Plaza projects; a 223-unit apartment complex; a new Goodwill donation center; and a recently completed Christian Brothers automotive site.

The activity also has attracted the attention of one of the nation’s largest commercial real estate developers and one of the region’s most prolific home builders. Combined, Benderson Development Co. and Neal Communities own nearly 1,000 acres at Interstate 75 and Toledo Blade. Moreover, Centex Homes, a national company that became the U.S.’s largest residential builder when it combined with Pulte Homes in 2009, has completed a pair of neighborhoods in the immediate area: Cedar Groves and Cypress Falls at The Woodlands.

Those communities and others, in turn, are prompting major retailers to enter the area – many for the first time. Chipotle Mexican Grill, for instance, is in the process of opening its first North Port location in Benderson’s highly successful Cocoplum Village Shops. The nation’s largest retailer, Walmart, is also currently constructing a Neighborhood Market at the intersection of Price and Sumter boulevards.  

Harshman & Company is proud to offer for sale an eight-acre tract at 2401 Commerce Parkway, just off North Toledo Blade, in this burgeoning area. Zoned for light industrial use or distribution, the site is priced right at $650,000, or $1.89 per useable square foot.

Additionally, Harshman & Company has been retained to sell several other lots on or near Toledo Blade. Ranging in size from .66 acres to 2.15 acres, the properties are zoned Planned Commercial Development, which allows a variety of uses. As a measure of activity, three of the 10 lots originally offered have been sold since last quarter.