By Cindy Lane
sun staff writer

LONGBOAT KEY – Up to six, four-story condominium buildings are slated to replace a Gulf-front family estate on Longboat Key.

Tampa-based Statewide Associates is planning the development at the 5.2-acre Villa Am Meer at 2251 Gulf of Mexico Drive, recently purchased for $18 million.

Between 27 and 30 condo units priced at $2.5 million to $4 million are planned for the condo development, which will be called Villas Am Meer after the estate, Statewide Project Manager Ken Mourtos said.

The existing house, which dates to the 1970s, will be incorporated into the development as a clubhouse, and a lagoon pool will be added, he said.

Statewide has done renovations for the St. Petersburg Times Forum in Tampa and the Bridgeport Arena in Bridgeport, Ct,, and is currently building a brownstone residential development in South Tampa.

Villas Am Meer LLC purchased the property from Elise Browne, a daughter of previous owner Edward Benedict, a thoroughbred horse breeder and the former chairman of Norda Inc., a flavor and fragrance company. She had purchased the property in January for $5 million from a family trust.