Downtown Construction - Summer 2015

There are currently seven major projects under construction in downtown Sarasota, comprising two new hotels, five new condominium offerings and two new rental apartment projects. Of them, Vue Sarasota Bay, from developer The Kolter Group, the greatest number of units in one project, with 141 upscale condominiums and a 255-room Westin Hotel. Taken together, the new construction will bring a total of about 400 hotel rooms, 250 condominiums and 400 apartments – a fraction of the nearly 1,500 new residences and more than 1,100 new hotel rooms proposed for the downtown area. In the months ahead, look for a surge of new rental apartment construction in the city’s Rosemary District just north of downtown. Apartment developers are capitalizing on less expensive land prices and the city-approved overlay district. On the retail front, residential brokerage firm Michael Saunders & Co.’s decision to relocate its downtown Sarasota sales office from corporate-owned space to just over 15,000 square feet on the ground floor of the 13-story Ellis Building, at 1605 Main St., is expected to be a positive contribution to the entire Main Street area when the firm moves in to fully refurbished space in early 2016. Welcome to the neighborhood, Michael!