A Fortune 500 building company paid $13.8M for a Bradenton area industrial complex

James A. Jones Jr.
·2 min read

A former Donzi Marine boat manufacturing site in southern Manatee County, that has been empty since 2010 and renovated, has gone to new owner.

Fortune 500 company Builders FirstSource paid $13.75 million for the 9.88-acre property at 7110 21st St. and plans to use it for expanded manufacturing operations and as its primary distribution center, Harry E. Robbins & Associates announced in a press release on Thursday.

Kevin Robbins handled the transaction for Robbins & Associates. Gavin Oberlin of Legacy Commercial Connection of KW Commercial was the co-listing agent.

“The sale is important as it speaks to the strength of the industrial market,” Robbins said. “It also signifies the continued expectation for building in the Florida market. BFS is a home building supply company making a very large investment in the Manatee-Sarasota market.”

Zoned for heavy manufacturing, the property was originally developed in 1964 by Donzi Marine, which occupied the facility until the company relocated in 2010.

Rodney Dessberg purchased the property in 2015 and oversaw renovations to the two existing buildings, totaling 130,877-square-feet of manufacturing space, and to the surrounding infrastructure.

A former Donzi Marine boat manufacturing site in southern Manatee County has gone to new owner.  Builders FirstSource paid $13.75 million for the property.
A former Donzi Marine boat manufacturing site in southern Manatee County has gone to new owner. Builders FirstSource paid $13.75 million for the property.

Dessberg also built a third structure totaling 10,000 square feet of new office space.

The west side of the premises borders an active Seminole Gulf Railway line, and the facility is a quarter mile from U.S. 301 and two miles north of Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport.

The property had been on the market for two years.

A former Donzi Marine boat manufacturing site in southern Manatee County has gone to new owner.  Builders FirstSource paid $13.75 million.
A former Donzi Marine boat manufacturing site in southern Manatee County has gone to new owner. Builders FirstSource paid $13.75 million.

“The size and the scale of this industrial asset transaction emphasizes the strength and continued growth in the industrial market around the Sarasota-Manatee area,” Oberlin said.

“The purchase by BFS shows that large national companies are following the national trend by moving operations to the Sarasota-Manatee market,” he said.