CLEARWATER - Morton Plant Mease Health Care has signed a preliminary agreement to sell Bayview Gardens retirement community, a Morton Plant facility since 1983.
The buyer, a partnership of a development company and a business specializing in senior living, plans to maintain the property as an assisted living and independent living community.
"We're looking at an aesthetic renovation at some point in time" Khris Pascarella, chief investment officer for Southern Land Co. of Franklin, Tenn., said of the assisted living building. "We don't intend to knock that down."
But the developer and Harbor Retirement Associates of Vero Beach want to redevelop part of the 32-acre property to "free up the acreage for some other types of uses," Pascarella said. "We're looking for the highest and best use of the land, given the value of the land."
"We've been looking for a buyer for a couple of years," said Beth Hardy, spokeswoman for Morton Plant Hospital and Bayview Gardens. "We are intending to sell the property, but it's not closed yet. The buyer is going through a due diligence process that will take about four months."
The sale of the property is part of the health care organization's plan to focus its operation on hospital care.
"Throughout the country, a lot of hospitals are making similar moves to refocus on their mission, which is hospital care," Mrs. Hardy said. "We are refocusing on our core hospital services - it's what we've been doing since 1916."
The community at 2855 Gulf-to-Bay Blvd. has a 94-unit assisted living facility and 229 independent living units that range from studios to one- and two-bedroom units. It currently has 290 residents and 100 employees, Mrs. Hardy said.
When the sale is final, there will be opportunities for the employees to continue to work within the Morton Plant Mease system, she said. Current Bayview residents who want to will be able to continue living there, she said.
Housing for seniors "is a very specialized business," Pascarella said. Any new development would be done by an architectural firm with experience in senior living, he said. "The intend is to try and minimize the disturbance to the residence."
Palm Harbor woman named bank manager
Lynn Bickerton of Palm Harbor has been hired as branch manager of Crown Bank at 1698 Missouri Ave. She has 24 years' experience in banking, and previously worked for Huntington, Republic and South Trust banks.
She previously was ranked 38th of 132 business specialists and was named the top business banker in Florida. Before moving to Palm Harbor, she and her three children lived in Dunedin for 10 years.
Prudential places pair in management roles
Ann Blumencranz, who has worked in real estate more than 20 years, has joined Prudential Tropical Realty as branch manager of its Palm Harbor office at 33920 U.S. 19 N.
Rodney Clark, who previously managed the Palm Harbor office, has been named managing broker of Prudential's Countryside office at 3034 Enterprise Road, Clearwater.
A 1990 graduate of the University of Minnesota, he has lived in the Tampa Bay area since 1997.
Prudential Tropical Realty, founded in 1959, has 13 offices and more than 275 sales professionals. It is an independently owned and operated member of Prudential Real Estate Affiliates.
- News of businesses and business people can be faxed to the Business Digest at 445-4119, e-mailed to cosdon@sptimes.com or mailed to Business Digest, 710 Court St., Clearwater, FL 33756. We are interested in new and unusual businesses, promotions, expansions and major new contracts. Photos can be sent, but not all will be used and they cannot be returned.
