Here’s a tip: Check out Little Gasparilla Island’s $6 million beach
One of the most visible properties just off Gasparilla Island is the southern sand tip of Little Gasparilla Island. Anyone passing over the Boca Grande Causeway will know the 6.24-acre lot, as its wide beach is visible as you look west toward the Gulf of Mexico and Boca Grande Pass.
“The owner wants to sell it,” said Michael Mazzei of Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Florida Realty of Naples. “They are very receptive and open to ideas.”
Like the rest of Little Gasparilla Island, the property is only accessible by boat. Out of the almost 6.24 acres, two are buildable, according to Mazzei. The property, which is the complete southern end of the island, has the current benefit of increasing sand and beachfront, as nourishment traditionally flows from the north. It is separated from Gasparilla Island by an approximate quarter-mile of water, with the Boca Grande Pass channel running immediately close to Gasparilla Island’s northernmost point.
“It’s the whole tip,” said Mazzei. “Where else are you going to get six acres on the water?”
Mazzei said that he could imagine an individual buying the property for a house, or it could be a group who would like to see the land protected.
“Can you imagine if you could make it into some sort of park?” said Mazzei.
There are some challenges with it. Its current use is reported as “rivers and lakes and submerged land.”
It also would require a dock to build a house.
The tax roll information for 9916 Little Gasparilla Island shows that the property was sold to 1520 South College LLC of Fort Collins, Colo. on December 30, 2021 and filed with Charlotte County January 21, 2022. The registered agent for the property is Rajiv P. Mehta. As of this writing, it had been on market 74 days.
The property was originally owned by the estate of Desoto County resident Ruth McElyha, who died in 1992 and in 1994 passed the property to Norris McElya Jr. of Miami, and later to Gary Van Driel of Colorado, who sold the property to 1520 South College LLC.
The last selling price, according to Charlotte County, was $57,100 on December 30, 2021. It is described as “thence running around point of Island 2424 feet back to the place of beginning.”
While it is a visible property with perfect water views and beaches, local brokers say it will require some thinking as to its future.
“Because of its location it would require thorough due diligence,” said Kevin Hyde, a broker with Parsley Baldwin Real Estate who has worked with a number of nearby property owners on Little Gasparilla Island.
There are a number of other empty lots on the island that are difficult to build on. The zoning code is BBI, which is a special zoning that Charlotte County uses for coastal properties.
BBI is an acronym for Bridgeless Barrier Island. That zoning category is only used for residential dwellings located in Charlotte County’s Smart Charlotte 2050 Barrier Island Overlay District, which encompasses Little Gasparilla Island, Don Pedro Island, Knight Island and Thornton Key.
The buildable part of the lot for sale is next to the last house on the island with the address 9912 Little Gasparilla Island. That property, known by many as the “glass house,” is owned by Sunwind Properties Inc. of Hialeah, according to county records. That property was conveyed from the Kerry Foundation of the Republic of Panama in 2009 for $750,000, and it is now assessed by Charlotte County at $554,880.
