One of Bradenton Beach’s last remaining trailer parks sells for $16.25 million

One of the last trailer parks on Anna Maria Island has gone to a new owner, one who already controls many island rental properties through his various enterprises.

Shawn Kaleta, through his Pines Park Investors LLC, bought the Pines Trailer Park at 103 Church Ave., Bradenton Beach, for $16.25 million, according to the warranty deed filed with the Manatee County Clerk of Court’s Office on Aug. 25.

Also filed with the clerk’s office was an $8.25 million mortgage held by the sellers, Jackson Partnership LLLP.

Earlier this year, park owner Jackson Partnership LLLP offered the Pines Trailer Park homeowners association the first chance to buy the trailer park, as required under state statute.

However, tenants, who launched a GoFundMe drive, were unable to get any traction on raising the $16 million asking price.

Tenants own their mobile homes, but not the park property itself.

The 87-lot, 2.78-acre park with frontage on Sarasota Bay dates back to its founding in 1935.

In a letter to Pines Trailer Park residents dated Sept. 12, Pines Park Investors LCC offered assurances that the trailer park would remain a trailer park.

“As you may be aware, we have recently acquired Pines Park, and we wanted to take this opportunity to assure you that we are committed to preserving and improving the park in hopes of ensuring its long-term success,” the letter said.

Pines Trailer Park and Sandpiper Mobile Resort, 2601 Gulf Drive N., also in Bradenton Beach, are the last remaining trailer parks on Anna Maria Island.

They stand in stark contrast, with their bright colors and quirky decorative touches by owners, to the evolving nature of Anna Maria Island, where McMansions are replacing beach bungalows.

Pines Mobile Home Park was named for Australian pine trees in the area. When it opened in 1935, a Bradenton Herald advertisement touted it as a “new and strictly modern tourist camp” with a community hall, dance hall, restaurant and laundry.

Kaleta is frequently in the news. In 2022, he offered to buy the Bradenton City Hall building, 101 Old Main St., for a flexible price, including paying $1 million more than the price proposed by any of the other bidders.

In his proposal, Kaleta said his company, 941 Prime Development, aimed to build a 1 million-square-foot mixed-use development featuring office space, a hotel, condos, a “bodega-style grocery store” and restaurants.

Kaleta later withdrew his Bradenton city hall proposal.

In December, Kaleta and Jacob Spooner, a Bradenton Beach businessman and city commissioner, made news when they submitted plans for a four-story, 103-room hotel on Bradenton Beach’s Bridge Street.

Those plans would require demolition of multiple existing properties.

Hunter Jensen, a 22-year-old Bradenton native and political science major at the University of South Florida, launched a petition drive that quickly garnered more than 2,500 signatures opposing the hotel.

“Already a traffic nightmare, an addition of a large hotel on a busy intersection would only increase the volume of traffic on Gulf Drive North and Bridge Street. Bridge Street is of historic value and provides many retail and dining options to residents and visitors alike,” the petition says.

In June, Holmes Beach police charged Kaleta with driving under the influence of alcohol and resisting an officer without violence, according to an incident report.