Housing boom continues in Parrish with 610 more apartments on the way, developer says

Another big piece of the Robinson Gateway project has fallen into place in northern Manatee County.

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, next to the planned BayCare Hospital.

Planned for The Carlton at Robinson Gateway are 15 four-story buildings with one, two and three-bedroom apartments ranging from 625 to 1,587 square feet.

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

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.

The Carlton at Robinson Gateway would be built adjacent to the planned BayCare Hospital Manatee, northeast of the I-75-Moccasin Wallow Road intersection.

Mahaffey is a third-generation, family-owned apartment development and management firm that has built over 20,000 apartment units, predominantly across Central Florida.

Developer set to build Parrish apartments

“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 news release.

Seaire, a master-planned community of more than 3,000 homes, and possibly a hotel, is being built around a man-made 4.5-acre lagoon on the south side of Moccasin Wallow Road, opposite the planned The Carlton at Robinson Gateway. Photo from 6/28/2023.

The Carlton at Robinson Gateway is part of the larger Robinson Gateway Development of Regional Impact 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 onto 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.

The 40-acre site where The Carlton at Robinson Gateway will be constructed is shown in the blue-green outline north of Moccasin Wallow Road. Interstate 75 is shown at left.

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.

“We are really looking forward to getting it rolling,” Everett said. “The financing puts us in a good spot.”

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 (more or less) and then could be working out there very soon,” Logan said.

Bill Robinson, shown with his son, Parks, ran a Fit2Run store in the Mall at UTC. Mr. Parks lost his battle to cancer in 2020.

Robinson Gateway project began years ago

The late 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.

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 southeast United States. What is now Robinson Gateway was Robinson’s tree farm business.

The Bradenton Herald first reported on the Robinson Gateway project in March 2005.

“The ring of proposed development enclosing the Interstate 75/Moccasin Wallow Road interchange is nearly complete. Developers have submitted plans for Robinson Gateway, a proposed residential and commercial development at the interchange’s northeast corner,” the Herald previously reported.

More about Mahaffey

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, Indiana, according to its web page.

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.