Pine Avenue News

Beach Magic

By Wanda McKinney - Southern Living - March 2009

The motto of Florida's Anna Maria Island says it all: "Welcome to paradise without an attitude." Our Insider's guide helps you make it your own slice of heaven.

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The 'Old Florida' feel of Anna Maria Island

By Kitty Bean Yancey, USA TODAY

ANNA MARIA ISLAND, Fla. — "Please be sweet and rinse your feet," hand-painted signs over troughs of water outside rooms at the beachfront, 23-unit Cedar Cove Resort & Cottages gently urge.

Tanned owner Eric Cairns makes his rounds in Jimmy Buffet-style tropical shirts and oversees the resort's "Queen for Your Stay" program, in which the name of a lucky woman staying a week or more is picked from a hat. She gets a crown, massage and other royal perks during her visit.

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AMI gets preview to more commercial opportunities

By GRACE GAGLIANO | Bradenton Herald - Posted on Tue, Apr. 14, 2009

ANNA MARIA — The Pine Avenue restoration project no longer needs artist renderings to illustrate what’s to come for Anna Maria’s business district.

The nearly completed pink and green, cottage-like structures now serve as a preview to the retail, office and residential developments in store for Manatee County’s tourist spot.

The two-story buildings at 315 and 317 Pine Ave. have commercial tenants ready to move in and will be the first of several mixed-use structures to be developed along the narrow island road.

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Pine Avenue project pitched to community

By Tom Vaught | sun staff writer

ANNA MARIA – The Pine Avenue Restoration Project has been in the news for the past year, but the movers and shakers have not had the opportunity to tell their story to the people who would be instrumental in selling it – the real estate professionals on the Island.

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Preserving the past, while planning for the future - Bay News 9 Video

Sunday, September 7, 2008 - Bay News 9

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Classic Anna Maria - Residents Ed Chiles and Michael Coleman work to return the town to its original charm and Character.

By James T. Black - Southern Living - September 2008

One practically grew up on the island town - the other discovered it while driving through. Now they're working together to restore Anna Maria's classic Florida charm.

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National publicity sparks interest in Island

By Cindy Lane | sun staff writer - Jan 4, 2009

Vacationers longing for a laid-back, old-time Florida beach vacation during the holidays found it on Anna Maria Island, courtesy of USA Today, Baltimore Magazine and the Internet.

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A Hidden Island (That's Easy to Find)

Anna Maria on Florida's West Coast promises a sunny escape for the winter weary.

By Suzanne Loudermilk

Definitely come here for the sunsets, but plan to stay for the sunrises, too. Anna Maria Island—a wisp of a seven-mile island along Florida's West Coast—is a place that revels in the end of day.

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Preserving the past, while planning for the future

Sunday, September 7, 2008 - Bay News 9

The Rosedale Cottage is one of the first historic homes purchased by the group. A group of residents and developers are working to preserve the past, as they plan for the future of Anna Maria Island.

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Pine Avenue looks to Future

The Islander - Volume 15, No. 37, July 18, 2007

Bradenton Beach was in a quandary in the early 1900s... Now Anna Maria City is on the verge of its own resurgence - although, unlike its sister city to the south, this time the seed money is from private sources.

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A Vision for the city

Anna Maria Island Sun Editorial - Volume 8, No. 49 - August 27,2008

Over the past four years, the city of Anna Maria has been trying to figure out what the commercial district along Pine Avenue should be. The effort has been a lengthy one and the outcome of all this work will shape not only the look and ambience of the city, but probably the viability of business here as well

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Rosedale Cottage part of Pine Ave. project

By Laurie Krosney | sun staff writer

ANNA MARIA — Hopes are high that Rosedale Cottage can be one of the centerpieces of the Pine Avenue Restoration Project (PAR).

The restoration group now owns the building, which is located at 503 Pine Avenue. It was the scene for an event billed as a conversation among neighbors on August 19.

The cottage straddles a portion of the property line of three side-by side, 50 by 150-foot lots. They form a portion of the vision for Pine Avenue.

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Saving Anna Maria's historic Pine Avenue

By GRACE GAGLIANO

ANNA MARIA -- Ed Chiles knows there is too much history and Old Florida charm to lose on Pine Avenue.

That's why he and two other businessmen partnered last year on a restoration project for the two-lane, quarter-mile-long road stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to Tampa Bay.

Chiles, along with Michael Coleman and Ted LaRoche, formed the investment group Pine Avenue Restoration LLC to purchase historic cottages along the street.

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Ambitious project is 'exciting' for busy Chiles

By Rick Catlin. Islander Reporter - Date of Issue: July 25, 2007

To say Anna Maria Island businessman Ed Chiles is busy is an understatement.

In addition to being the head of the ownership group of the Sandbar, BeachHouse and Mar Vista restaurants, Chiles is also chairman of START, the organization that fights red tide; president of the Manatee Community Foundation; vice-chairman of the Lawton Chiles Foundation; a member of the tourism development council; the former chairman of Goodwill (two terms); campaign treasurer for Christine Jennings for Congress; and volunteers to help the Anna Maria Island Community Center when called upon.

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