When Emerald Harbor was developed on Longboat Key’s bayside more than 50 years ago, it was designed as a boater’s paradise with luxury and exclusivity in mind. By the time Tom and Harry Macksey took over from the initial developer, who went bankrupt, they had built a number of upscale communities in the Detroit area.
This canalfront house, one lot from Harris Bayou, at 761 Old Compass Road in Emerald Harbor, Longboat Key, is listed at $1.995 million by Duane and Rhonda Finney of RE/MAX Alliance Group. Built in 2001 by John Cannon Homes, it has three bedrooms and four and a half baths in 4,378 square feet. It has a dock and boat lift. (Staff photo / Harold Bubil)
Tom had lived in Sarasota 10 years by then, and he and his brother wanted to enter the Florida housing market, transporting their vision of expansive living to the Gulf Coast.
They created a generous layout for the community. Streets were open and broad. All the lots faced water, were lined with seawalls, and ranged from a minimum of 15,000 square feet to almost an acre. The three, lagoon-style canals were 100 to 125 feet wide and dredged to 8 feet of depth at low tide. The Florida ranch-style homes were larger than most of the beach cottages on the barrier island, and varied between 1,600 to 2,000 square feet in size.
A 1959 advertisement in the afternoon Sarasota Journal pictured a manned gatehouse that looked like the captain’s bridge of an ocean liner and promised, “Your privacy protected . . . nothing comparable in Sarasota . . . the very best in waterfront living . . . ”
It also offered a “pre-development discount” of 20 percent on the first 15 lots, whose prices started at $15,000.
Today, the vintage community, located next to the Spanish Main Yacht Club, is one of the most sought-after neighborhoods on northern Longboat Key. Emerald Harbor isn’t gated, as originally pledged, but the divided street entrance is nicely landscaped, and there is ample tropical foliage throughout.
All but two of the 83 properties have homes along the three fingers that extend toward Sarasota Bay, fronted by Harris Bayou. A wide mangrove peninsula parallel to the coastline offers a buffer for boats and a shelter for a variety of birds and other marine wildlife.
Many of the original homes, some of them built by the Mackey brothers, still exist. At 701 Old Compass Road, a house listed at $825,000 by Sandi Layfield and Michael Nink, Realtors with Michael Saunders & Co., was built in 1968 and has been extensively remodeled on the inside. It also has a caged pool and a private boat dock and lift.
Nink likes the open sense of Emerald Harbor. “There is so much space between homes, you’re not living right on top of your neighbor,” he says.
In recent years, a number of the ranches have been torn down to make room for estate-sized Key West and Mediterranean-style houses. The 4,000-square-foot, Florida contemporary residence at 761 Emerald Drive has a beautiful view of the bayou across its canal. Listed for $1.495 million by Cathy Meldahl and Susan Smith, also of Michael Saunders, it has vaulted ceilings and was last remodeled in 1998.
“It’s a lot of house for the money,” says Meldahl, who sold it to the current owner in 1997. “I love driving around the neighborhood,” she continues. “It’s very clean-looking with curbs and wide streets. It has an appealing atmosphere.”
Most of Emerald Harbor’s residents are retirees. Like the rest of Longboat Key, 30 percent or so are year-round, and 70 percent snowbirds. There are some working professionals, as well, but no families. “Although there have been a few children in the past, it’s mostly about boats here,” Meldahl explains. And boaters.
“Emerald Harbor is nicely protected, a yachter’s dream,” Nink agrees. “It’s easy to get into the bay, and from there, it’s only a mile to the (Longboat Pass) bridge and into the Gulf.”
A waterway near the entrance of Emerald Harbor on Longboat Key, as seen fro Binnacle Point Drive. (Staff photo / Harold Bubil)
Residents fish and watch the manatees coming into the first canal. They also enjoy private, deeded access to the white sand beach directly across Gulf of Mexico Drive.
There are great restaurants virtually within walking distance — Euphemia Haye, Harry’s Continental Kitchen and the Lazy Lobster. The Publix at Avenue of the Flowers, the Longboat Key Arts Center and other shops are within easy driving distance.
“I like the central location,” says Nink. “You can get north to Anna Maria Island and south to St. Armands Circle and downtown Sarasota in no time.”
Sales have been steady — five homes over the last 12 months, ranging from $795,000 to $1.495 million. Currently, there are six houses on the market, priced from $815,000 to $1.995 million, and one pending sale.
“It’s a great community — the premier neighborhood on the north end of Longboat Key,” says Nink.
