Oct. 2, 2017
SARASOTA — An 18-story, 73 unit condominium building called The Grande will be the first to rise out of the long-vacant Quay Sarasota development in the heart of Sarasota’s bay front.
The 73-unit property will be placed on the southwest corner of the site and will include a 9,500-square-foot restaurant overlooking, what will eventually become a central plaza for the mixed-use project.
The tower will sit just across from the Ritz-Carlton. The two properties will be connected by an elevated pedestrian bridge, according to plans filed with the city in September.
This piece of the Quay Sarasota project will be led by The Kolter Group, the West Palm Beach developers behind the recently completed Westin hotel and the, still-under-construction, Vue Sarasota Bay condominium next door to the Quay site.
But it will be just a fraction of the estimated $1 billion project plan created by developer GreenPointe Communities. That plan received final approval from the City Commission late last year after years of working with city planners to craft a formal development agreement.
The total Quay Sarasota agreement allows for up to 695 condominiums, 175 hotel rooms, 189,050 square feet of retail space and nearly 39,000 square feet of office space in buildings up to 18 stories high.
Almost every aspect of the overall project is timed and outlined through the development agreement in a series of steps and nine so-called “blocks” where individual pieces of the long-term project will be reviewed and considered at public hearings as each is individually designed.
The Grande will be the first, located on “Block 6” in the southwest corner of the site, and as such, is required to be built concurrently with a series of improvements there, according to the plans.
In addition to the condos and restaurant, the city has required the restoration of the historic Belle Haven Hotel be among the first things completed. This requires a separate building application and has yet to be submitted but is being coordinated with Clifford Smith, a city planner and historic preservation expert, according to the memos accompanying the plans submitted by Stantec Consulting Services.
The agreement also requires the initial construction include a portion of the city’s bayfront multi-use trail, which will connect the legs of the bike and pedestrian trail that run north and south along the water on neighboring properties.
The largest requirement is that the construction of the planned roundabout at Fruitville Road and U.S. 41 accompany the construction of The Grande.
The roundabout will replace the traffic signal at that intersection and will serve as a primary entrance for the new condos and Quay Sarasota project.
Design and permitting with the Florida Department of Transportation is underway and its construction will occur simultaneously with the new building’s, according to the application to the city.
Kolter originally announced The Grande last year as an 86-unit condo on the Ritz-Carlton property itself, as opposed to its new location on the Quay Property just across the canal between the two.
Attempts to reach top GreenPointe officials about the move were unsuccessful last week.
Prices under the previous plan included three- and four-bedroom units, including penthouses that would range from $2 million to more than $5 million.
