Englewood Florida:Waterfront Property..

Developer hopes to turn Englewood mobile home park into condominiums
If plans are approved, Shady Haven will become a $100 million waterfront development.

The Shady Haven Mobile Home Park and adjacent 240-slip Royal Palm Marina on the Intracoastal Waterway are under contract with Sarasota developer Mark Flannagan, who plans to turn the 13-acre site into a $100 million marina village.If the plans go through, it'll be one of the largest waterfront developments in Englewood and the second for Flannagan, who is also developing the $35 million Red Fish Key condos on Lemon Bay.That project got under way this week with the demolition of Mad Sam's restaurant on the site at 1375 Beach Road.No paperwork on the Shady Haven project has been filed with Sarasota County, which must first approve the plans and rezoning.Flannagan wouldn't say how much the new condos and town houses will cost or what he's paying for the two properties, but said they'll close the deal early next year.He said that gives the mobile home residents about two years to make other living arrangements."It'll be an upgraded Key West village on the water," Flannagan said about the Shady Haven development, now owned and operated by Klaus and Mary Allseits."We'll have gas, a bait shop, a clothing store and a bar," Flannagan said. "The boating community will be able to pull in" and there will be public access.For residents who live in the park's 106 trailers -- or "can-dominiums" as some residents jokingly call them -- the sale means the loss of a piece of Old Florida paradise on the cheap.Most of the trailers at Shady Haven are too old to move. Some were purchased recently for as little as $700 and as long ago as the 1950s, when the area was part of a fishing village. The park dates back to the 1930s and has had several owners over the years.Dozens of mobile home communities from Pinellas to Charlotte County have shared Shady Haven's fate over the past year, and about 14 more are under contract or about to go under contract.Like most mobile home parks that have given way to million-dollar mansions, Shady Haven residents own their trailers but rent the land for as little as $300 a month.Two narrow streets lined with neat, older-style trailers, many with small gardens and covered patios, lead to a small harbor, where one of the 30 boat slips rents for about $20 a month. South of the park, million-dollar homes share the same view; to the north is Royal Palm Marina."It's too hard to make a living," said John Baiamonte, who has owned the marina.