During the recession, southwestern Manatee County experienced plummeting property values as businesses closed and homes went into foreclosure. After the recession, values there were slower to recover than in eastern suburban areas where construction and property sales resumed.
Today, numerous commercial properties on major thoroughfares remain vacant in Southwest Manatee and some neighborhoods are still rebounding. Yet the county is now in a financial position that it can use a dedicated trust fund, as well as other programs, to assist in expediting that sector’s recovery.
In October 2014, the county launched the Southwest Tax Increment Financing District, which now has its own logo and is more commonly called the “TIF” or “Southwest District.”
The district encompasses an area south of Manatee Avenue to the Sarasota County line and from the Cortez fishing village to the Tallevast neighborhood.