Moving from Miami to another Florida location? This city is seeing an apartment boom

Are you planning a move from the Atlantic Coast to the Gulf Coast of Florida?

There’s an apartment boom underway in northern Manatee County, near St. Petersburg, where a 610-unit community will rise near Interstate 75.

Here’s what to know:

Where are the new Florida apartments?

Location: The Carlton at Robinson Gateway, a 610-unit, garden-style multifamily community, is coming to the northeast quadrant of Interstate 75 and Moccasin Wallow Road in Parrish, next to a planned BayCare Hospital.

What will the apartments have?

Amenities: The apartments are expected to feature stainless-steel appliances, in-unit washers and dryers, high-speed internet access. Proposed community amenities include a clubhouse, business center, on-site storage units, community dog park and resort-style swimming pool.

Apartment sizes: Planned are 15 four-story buildings with one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments ranging from 625 to 1,587 square feet.

Who is building The Carlton at Robinson Gateway?

Companies: Berkadia, a joint venture of Berkshire Hathaway and Jefferies Financial Group, arranged a $97 million loan to finance the construction of The Carlton at Robinson Gateway on behalf of The Mahaffey Apartment Company. Mahaffey is a third-generation, family-owned apartment development and management firm that has built over 20,000 apartment units, predominantly across Central Florida.

Quote: “We are extremely pleased to have closed the construction financing for the development and we are excited to get to work in bringing our Carlton brand to this high-growth area of North Manatee County,” Austin Everett, chief financial officer of The Mahaffey Apartment Company, said in a statement.

What’s the background of the place?

Community: The Carlton at Robinson Gateway is part of the larger Robinson Gateway development on 288 acres along Moccasin Wallow Road. The property sits next to the planned BayCare Hospital. Mahaffey closed on the 40-acre site in November for $11.57 million. The site faces the Seaire community of 3,000 planned homes and possibly a hotel, being built around a man-made 4.5-acre lagoon south of Moccasin Wallow Road.

What about the nearby hospital?

Plans: BayCare Health System plans to open its hospital in 2027 with 154 beds in private patient rooms. Construction is set to begin in October. Additionally, the $548 million project would include a 45,000-square-foot medical arts building. BayCare’s plans added to Mahaffey’s confidence in moving ahead with The Carlton, Everett said in a phone interview with the Bradenton Herald.

What’s next?

Steps to construction: Mahaffey is awaiting approval for mass grading at the site, commonly known as “moving dirt.” In response to a question from the Herald, Bill Logan, information outreach director for Manatee County Government, said: “The project is under their second review now for the final site plan and comments are expected to be complete this week. “At first glance, it appears there aren’t any substantial comments that would affect design, so I suspect they will resubmit version three in the next 30 days and then could be working out there very soon,” Logan said.

How Robinson Gateway project began

Visionary: Bill Robinson was the visionary behind the Robinson Gateway project. Robinson, who died at age 70 in 2020, was president of Robby’s Sporting Goods, which was sold to Bradenton-based Champs Sports in 1988.

Developments: After Champs acquired Robby’s, Robinson developed The Loop subdivision in Northwest Bradenton, and was chief executive officer of Pursely Tree Farms, re-branding it the Treehouse and supplying trees to landscapers throughout the southeastern United States. What is now Robinson Gateway was Robinson’s tree farm business.

More about Mahaffey

Company info: St. Petersburg-based The Mahaffey Company was established in 1962. It has developed and built 23 apartment communities with 20,000 individual apartments across Central Florida as well as in Indianapolis, according to its web page.

Product line: After 50 years of Colonial Williamsburg-style architecture, The Mahaffey Company transitioned to a new distinct product line named The Carlton with a nod to the history of the company. Carlton Arms in Bradenton was developed by The Mahaffey Company, and sold to a new owner in 2018, Everett said.