When completed, the $15 million structure would have 500 spaces!

ST. ARMANDS KEY — Plans for a new city parking garage on St. Armands Circle are nearing the finish line this summer.

The roughly four-story, 500-space parking structure will replace the surface parking lot on the northeastern corner of the restaurant and shopping district on Adams and Madison drives.

The designs for the estimated $15 million project have been months in the making, including a series of lengthy public workshops, and received unanimous and enthusiastic approval from the city’s Planning Board this month.

The designs still need final approval from the City Commission before a guaranteed maximum price and formal construction contract can be finalized later this year. Work is expected to start in the spring and finish by the end of 2018.

The garage will include a valet area on the first floor, a parking management office and possibly several solar panels on the top floor, Lyons said. The design required a series of waivers for certain setbacks and rules to fit it into a Tetris-styled slot between the shops and fire station there, architect Jonathan Parks said.

“This is a tremendous project on a very difficult site,” Parks said. “It’s like trying to build a Faberge egg inside of a glass bottle.”

It will add a net increase of 304 parking spaces, considering the spaces in the current lot and the loss of a few on-street slots as part of the design, said Kimley-Horn’s Mark Santos, who worked on the designs. The project also will include a new right-turn lane off John Ringling Boulevard, burying some overhead utility lines and two “gateway signs” denoting St. Armands for drivers arriving from Longboat Key or downtown Sarasota, he said.

Light, bright, and move in ready! This wonderful 2 bedroom, 2 bath, maintenance free paired villa is ideally located in much sought after enclave, The Preserves at Palm-Aire. This great split plan offers neutral décor and a spacious kitchen with ample counter space and cabinetry. The main areas of the home have wonderful diagonal tile floors. Both bedrooms are spacious with carpet and large walk-in closets. Enjoy the outdoors on your generously sized screened and tiled Lanai. Your storage concerns are answered with the oversized 2 car garage plus off-street parking. This wonderful villa is just steps to the lovely community pool. Palm Aire Golf & Country Club offers several different levels of memberships but is not mandatory. There are two 18-Hole Championship Golf Courses, 8 Har-Tru Lighted Tennis Courts, beautiful 25,000 sq. ft. Club House, State-Of-The Art Fitness Center, and Resort Style Olympic Swimming Pool. Palm Aire is highly sought after with its wonderful community amenities and close proximity to everything good! Located just minutes from 3 airports, world class dining and shopping, the Arts of Sarasota, and our award winning beaches. Purchase with confidence, the seller is including a one year home buyers warranty policy! For additional information on this great property click here.

A series of structures designed to fight erosion will mimic a coral reef.

SARASOTA — A new pilot project will test whether a “living seawall” might be the future of the city’s fight against erosion along the waterfront on Sarasota Bay.

The $300,000 project will be in addition to the traditional seawall currently under construction along the edge of City Island at O’Leary’s Tiki Bar & Grill and is designed to create a new home for marine life there, city officials said.

Instead of a traditional seawall’s flat concrete construction, the living seawall will form a series of underwater structures intended to mimic a coral reef to provide new places for creatures to grow and live, Sustainability Manager Stevie Freeman-Montes said. Without them, organisms would have trouble attaching to the traditional wall and deflected waves could prevent seagrass growth, she added.

“There have been a lot of studies that show flat seawalls can have negative environmental impacts because they don’t create habitat; they actually take away habitat,” she said. “What’s naturally a very active habitat zone with a natural shoreline is suddenly prevented.”

Last week the City Commission approved a $46,000 contract with locally based Reef Innovations to design a concept for the living seawall. The company has created breakwaters and artificial reefs all over the world, including dozens of reef sites and docks throughout Sarasota County waters over the past 20 years.

The project has been two years in the making after the city started work on plans to build a seawall along the edge of O’Leary’s when erosion scraped away the natural beach there and began threatening trees around the bar and patio. That $487,000 project has been under construction this summer and is on track to be completed by the end of September, City Manager Tom Barwin said.

Due to the environmental concerns about stark seawalls, city leaders considered the site as a pilot area to test the effects of a living seawall, Barwin and Freeman-Montes said.

They have brought in Mote Marine Laboratories to monitor the project for two years to identify what kind of marine life it attracts and how much, along with how it deflects waves that could otherwise undermine the seawalls, officials said.

If Mote’s studies demonstrate the living seawall works, the city could consider adding “living” elements to other seawalls throughout the area, Barwin said.

“In situations like this, where you’ve got human assets at risk, you may have to still put traditional seawalls in behind it, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make it beautiful in front of it and make the interface between the land and the sea look more natural and make it visually appealing,” said Todd Barber, chairman of The Reef Ball Foundation, which creates these artificial systems with Reef Innovations.

Last year the groups completed a similar project along the city of Palmetto’s Riverside Park West.

Photo credit: Sarasota Bay resident bottlenose dolphin Ginger with her second calf. Photo taken by the Chicago Zoological Society's Sarasota Dolphin Research Program under National Marine Fisheries Service Scientific Research Permit No. 20455.

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“Ginger,” a Sarasota Bay resident bottlenose dolphin, rehabilitated at Mote Marine Laboratory, was observed with a newborn calf on July 6 by the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program (SDRP), a Chicago Zoological Society program in collaboration with Mote. SDRP has monitored Ginger since her birth in 2005 to a well-known resident Sarasota Bay dolphin. 

Ginger was stranded at age 3 in December 2008, on Siesta Beach and was brought to Mote’s Dolphin & Whale Hospital, which is dedicated to rehabilitating and releasing sick and injured dolphins and small whales. Ginger was dehydrated and covered with toothrake marks from interactions with other dolphins.  She also appeared to be suffering from a respiratory condition called bronchopneumonia. All hospitalized dolphins require plenty of care, but Ginger stood out because she was fed primarily live fish during her time at Mote, with the intent of helping her to stay as wild as possible and be ready for release.
 
“While Ginger was in our care, trained Mote volunteers spent 1,320 hours monitoring her condition, providing vital information about her progress,” said Lynne Byrd, Medical Care and Rehabilitation Coordinator at Mote. “Ginger ate nearly 4,000 pinfish during her rehabilitation. She was one of the most labor intensive patients that I've had the privilege to work with, and it was obviously well worth our effort!”
 
Ginger recovered successfully and was released in February 2009 wearing a tiny VHF radio transmitter so she could be easily found and visually monitored by SDRP, which has studied Sarasota Bay’s dolphins since 1970 and conducts the world’s longest-running study of a wild dolphin population.
 
This is Ginger’s second calf. Ginger had her first calf in summer 2015, but it disappeared within approximately six months. Loss of first-born calves is not unusual, in dolphins or many other mammals. 
 
The sighting of Ginger with her new calf, drives home that she has been thriving as a member of the resident dolphin community in Sarasota Bay. “Successful reproduction is a very good indication of successful treatment in rehab,” Wells said.
 
Watch out for marine life while enjoying southwest Florida waters.

Up to five concurrent generations of long-term resident dolphins live in Sarasota Bay year-round, and they give birth during late spring and summer. To date in 2017, 18 new babies have been born to well-known mothers using Sarasota Bay and surrounding waters. Dolphins do not, or cannot always get out of the way of approaching boats, and fatal collisions and serious injuries to dolphins occur in Sarasota Bay. The dolphins frequent shallow waters where they may be unable to dive below an approaching boat. Naïve newborn dolphins lack the skills and experience to avoid boats, and have to surface more frequently to breathe than do older dolphins. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s guidelines indicate that boats should stay at least 50 yards away from dolphins.

• Follow Coast Guard-approved safe boating guidelines and use vigilance to avoid striking marine animals.
• Wear polarized sunglasses to see marine life in your path.
• Follow posted signs for slow-speed zones.
• Follow 10 dolphin-friendly fishing and viewing tips. Click here for a PDF. (These tips were made with dolphins in mind, but they're also great guidelines for the best ways to view all large marine animals.)
• Never feed marine wildlife. Click here to watch a PSA about why it’s harmful and illegal to feed wild dolphins: www.dontfeedwilddolphins.org.
• Stow trash and line when under way. Trash that accidentally blows into the water can become ingested by or entangled around marine life. 
• If you observe a manatee mating herd - several manatees gathered as males vie to mate with a female - watch the manatees from at least 100 feet away. Coming any closer might disrupt the animals' natural mating behavior or put people into harm's way. Adult manatees typically weigh upwards of 1,000 pounds and people can be seriously injured.
• Within Sarasota or Manatee county waters, if you see a stranded or dead dolphin, whale or sea turtle, please call Mote's Stranding Investigations Program, a 24-hour response service, at (941) 988-0212. If you see a stranded or dead manatee anywhere in state waters or a stranded or dead dolphin, whale or sea turtle outside of Sarasota or Manatee counties, please call the FWC Wildlife Alert hotline at 1 (888) 404-FWCC (3922).

Photo taken by the Chicago Zoological Society's Sarasota Dolphin Research Program under National Marine Fisheries Service Scientific Research Permit No. 20455

Jimmy Buffett’s laid-back island lifestyle is coming to the west Bradenton development of Harbour Isles.

In his hit song, “One Particular Harbour,” Jimmy Buffett sings about an idyllic island destination “sheltered from the wind, where the children play on the shore each day and all are safe within.”

Minto Communities is aiming to capture that laid-back vacation vibe at its Harbour Isles development on Anna Maria Sound in West Bradenton, where it is building One Particular Harbour Marina and Residences in conjunction with Margaritaville Holdings.  

One hundred thirty-two Harbour Walks waterfront condominiums, priced from the $400,000s, are being built. They are adjacent to a deepwater marina now under construction, with 55 wet slips and 128 dry slips and up to 30,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space. A waterfront beach club with sky bar, resort pool, tot lot and yoga lawn also are part of the project. The marina is expected to be completed next spring and will include a Margaritaville-themed restaurant that will be open to the public and will be accessible by boat.

“Jimmy Buffett and his music are all about boating, sailing, the beach—and that is exactly what Harbour Isles has represented since it opened,” says Minto senior vice president William Bullock. One Particular Harbor, he says, is “targeted to an all-age group; people who enjoy fun and sun.” The biggest change the partnership brings is the institution of a professionally managed vacation rental program. “Buyers can live there full-time—and they do—or can use them as an investment product,” Bullock says. There will be a five-night minimal rental stay.

Bullock says Minto sold 30 of the 132 total units at Marina Walk units before the One Particular Harbor branding. “The minute we announced the partnership,” he says, “we got hundreds of registrations from people interested in learning more about the One Particular Harbor concept.”

Rendering shows the future town center of Lakewood Ranch’s Waterside community which is now under development and will bring more than 5,000 homes to the area. Lakewood Ranch ranks third in the nation for new home sales midway through 2017. Artist’s rendering

LAKEWOOD RANCH 

With 622 sales on the books already, Lakewood Ranch has climbed into third place in the nation for mid-year 2017.  The 31,000-acre master-planned Lakewood Ranch community first appeared in the RCLCO rankings in 2012, when it ranked ninth in the nation in sales. Lakewood Ranch has been climbing the sales rankings ever since.

In 2016, Lakewood Ranch logged 775 sales to rank fourth in the nation and appears on track to surpass that sales record.

Lakewood Ranch’s 622 new home sales through the end of June 2017 is a 73 percent increase over midyear 2016 when 360 were sold.

Factors cited for Lakewood Ranch’s stellar sales record include “its unique amenities and opportunities for community engagement. With a 140-acre sports campus — one of the largest in the country — a community polo club, and a multitude of community clubs, Lakewood Ranch offers members of all generations the opportunity to engage and interact,” RCLCO said in its midyear report.

Laura Cole, vice president of marketing for LWR Communities, cited a myriad of complementary elements for the sales success, including vibrant shopping districts, unique sporting venues, a hospital and A-rated public schools.

KIDS ARE FOLLOWING THEIR PARENTS TO LAKEWOOD RANCH BECAUSE OF QUALITY OF LIFE.

Laura Cole

Cole also cited access to I-75, Sarasota Bradenton International Airport, beaches and cultural offerings of Manatee and Sarasota counties.

Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, Inc., developer of Lakewood Ranch, has set aside more than a third of the community’s 31,000 acres as green space and provided more than 150 miles of interconnected trails and sidewalks. Infrastructure, including roads and landscaping, is completed.

Buyers come from throughout Florida, including Tampa, Orlando and the east coast, as well as New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois and the mid-Atlantic. People are also coming from Georgia and California, according to an SMR press release.

“Kids are following their parents to Lakewood Ranch because of quality of life,” Cole said. “Technology, and the proximity of four international airports for business use, helps make this move from highly congested metropolitan areas easier and more attractive. More people are doing it, and earlier in life than they used to. The 20-, 30-, and 40-year-olds want to be closer to their parents, and to the support structure of their kids’ grandparents. Our schools, medical facilities, sports and entertainment options, and location close to the beaches and cultural benefits allow them to experience a higher quality of life without sacrificing their big-city conveniences.”

The World Rowing Championships are coming to Sarasota’s Nathan Benderson Park (the first time the prestigious event has been held in the United States in more than 20 years), thousands more people will know what locals have already known: Sarasota is a mecca for rowers of every age and ability.

The World Rowing Championships, coming up Sept. 23 through Oct. 1 and anticipating 40,000 in attendance—and 1,700 elite, world-class athletes from more than 60 countries on hand—is the icing on the cake for our area, which is home to the Sarasota County Rowing Club, for women and men over 18; the Sarasota Scullers, the oldest organized youth rowing club in town; and Sarasota Crew, whose membership has grown by leaps and bounds since its founding in 2002.

For middle and high school-aged rowers, it’s often an all-consuming lifestyle of competition against other clubs, as well as for college scholarships. For some of the more mature rowers who live here or schedule visits just to row, it’s as much about fitness, health and the knowledge that rowing can be a lifelong sport.

Rowing is a low-impact, high-cardio activity, so it’s suited to almost anyone at any age. Adaptive rowing even engages those with certain physical limitations. And our calm, beautiful waters seem perfect for all, whether it’s the youth teams launching from Osprey’s Blackburn Point or Bay Point Preserve, master rowers who have been using their oars for years, or visitors taking advantage of the new Grade A facility (the only one of its kind in the country) at Nathan Benderson Park.

Paul Thorpe's mission restored the city's deteriorating economic, cultural, and social worlds

Jeff LaHurd Correspondent

SARASOTA — It would be difficult to find another person who has done more to create Sarasota’s downtown vibe than Paul Thorpe, recognized for his efforts and successes with the apt title, “Mr. Downtown.”

In the 1970s Thorpe had an office in the iconic Palmer Bank at Five Points with a cat’s eye view of the area’s growing malaise.

Downtown lodging had fallen out of favor, replaced by beachfront hotels. Shopping switched from mom-and-pop storefronts to outlying shopping and strip centers that offered free parking. U.S. 41, which had previously run along Main Street, was shifted to the bayfront. Most of the necessities that previously could only be found in the heart of the city, migrated out of town and in 1964, there was only one condominium building.

Thorpe’s mission impossible, which he assigned to himself, was to restore downtown Sarasota, making it, once again, the go-to destination for locals and out-of-towners.

In the mid-70s, Thorpe and a handful of like-minded businessmen formed the Downtown Association, which grew into a sizable force (more than 200 members today), that captured the ear of the city manager and the Sarasota City Commission. They were not so much fighting City Hall, but convincing it.

As Thorpe put it in the Herald-Tribune, “You’ve got to be patient. It takes a long time to deal with the government in trying to get things done. So a lot of the steps were slow steps.”  Thorpe recognized the importance of the area to the entire community.

He was quoted in a Herald-Tribune article in 1993: “I love downtown. Since I’ve been here I have had a passionate desire to make it a better place to live in.”

First success

One of the group’s first successes started slowly, beginning as Bicentennial Park on Lemon Avenue, which evolved into the Farmer’s Market. It kicked off with a “handshake deal” between Thorpe and longtime city manager Ken Thompson.

In a Herald-Tribune Perspective article with Barbara Peters-Smith, Thorpe recalled getting a pickup truck with a fellow board member, going to Hibbs Farm & Garden and then to Troyer’s and buying flowers and produce to resell. Today, the Farmer’s Market has become one of the most popular weekly events in Sarasota, a major draw jammed full of locals and snowbirds and every conceivable breed of man’s best friend.

Of all that Thorpe accomplished for Sarasota, the Farmer’s Market was his great achievement, said Phil Pagano, longtime executive director of the market. Pagano counts it among of the best things to happen to downtown Sarasota.

Another “handshake deal” between Thorpe and Thompson was the Sarasota Suncoast Offshore Grand Prix, an annual event that draws thousands and raises money for Suncoast Charities for Children.

Thorpe cites the 1983 RUDAT, or Regional/Urban Design Assistance Team program — a weeklong gathering of architects, engineers, traffic experts and economists — for facilitating a partnership between city government and private enterprise. The blueprint they presented to the commission ultimately led to a Downtown Master Plan in 1986, followed, in 1988, by the Duany Plan.

He also credits the bankers and business people who maintained a presence in the area during the long rough patch. Thorpe said that when Patrick’s restaurant and bar opened at Five Points, it provided a real boost to nightlife in the area. Today, the restaurant is a local landmark.

His ideas for pulling people into town have included the popular boat parade at Christmastime, and the New Year’s Eve bash, which draws tens of thousands.

A city ready to be involved

As he recounted the evolution of Sarasota’s success for Peters-Smith, Thorpe indicated that it began when the city government was ready to become involved in the process.

That led to the renovation of the old Edwards Theatre into the Sarasota Opera House, which, in turn, saw the success of several restaurants, including the Bijou, and the expansion of the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre.

“Each one of those things was a focal point for other things to happen around them,” Thorpe said.

He also participated in the King Neptune Frolics, was an active member of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, backed the Fourth of July fireworks display and the annual Memorial Day parade.

Thorpe has served on the boards of the Downtown Association of Sarasota and the Sarasota Housing Authority.

Other Thorpe wishes for Sarasota’s core have come true: the Whole Foods Grocery store, the Hollywood 20 movie theater to boost the east end of Main Street, a downtown bus depot, a luxury hotel in the Ritz-Carlton Sarasota and a downtown public library.

After 28 years of service, Thorpe was ready to step aside to allow “younger blood” to take over.

Many accolades have been paid to Thorpe over the years: the Key to Sarasota, proclamations of appreciation by the city and county governments, tributes from the Downtown Association and congratulatory letters from appreciative friends and business associates.

The most appropriate tribute from a grateful Sarasota City Commission is to rename Pineapple Park in the heart of downtown in his honor.

The heartfelt gesture underscores the love and appreciation the citizens of his beloved community feel about him and what he accomplished for them.

Brick's Smoked Meats is a new eatery at 1528 State Street in Sarasota, is serving up some full-belly satisfied patrons in an authentic rustic, but chic ambience.  Mark Gabrick, Co-owner and visionary of this already Jumpin’ spot that opened May16^th,  says his main job is to watch the oak burning fire in “Big Red”, his pride and joy!  The massive red rotisserie smoker holds 1,800 pounds of meat and using oak wood, smokes up the briskets, beans, bacon, ribs, turkey and more for up to 18 hours. 

Mark says Brick"s has been on his “goal Board” for ten years.  Upon moving to Tampa, he started a food truck with his smoked concoctions, them moved to Sarasota to offer it at the Farmer’s Market.  When Mark met the other owner, Dick Rivera, Brick"s was developed with a couple years of research and hard work to fan the flame of success. 

His partner, Dick Rivera is a long-run restaurateur with roots in Steak & Ale , Applebees, TGI Friday’s  and other restaurants. 

The concept is unique.  They are creating a “barbecue culture” they said.  “barbecue is a sensory memory experience”,  Mark Said.  “We want families and patrons to create memories here, just as people do in their backyards in Texas.”

The backyard motif is probably best picked up with the string lights strung abo e the long, community tables that encourage folks that may be strangers to one another, to sit together. 

The casual order/pay/eat may not appeal to those wishing to be served from beginning to end, but its advantage is that you won’t have to wait for your check or a drink, since the bar is first up, right inside the door.  You order your drink, get a menu, meander down the corridor to order your food and then pay.  Then you are set to relax as servers handle the rest.

Brick’s Smoked Meats is open Sunday through Thursday, 11 A.M. to 11 P.M and Friday and Saturday until midnight.  They also cater and offer take-out .  Call 941-993-1435 or visit www.brickssmokedmeats.com for more information. 

Move-in ready and barely lived in! Gorgeous views of the lake and golf course from this spacious and bright 2nd floor 3 bedroom 2 bath coach home with open floor plan. The kitchen has lovely wood cabinetry with ample granite counters and the full compliment of stainless appliances . Relax in your large great room or on your lanai, both with breathtaking views. The spacious master suite is complete with 2 large walk-in closets with built-ins, dual vanities, wood cabinetry, soaking tub, and separate shower. Storage is no issue with your oversized 2 plus car garage – fit your toys, personal items, and golf cart. Stay cool with the new AC 2014. Stay safe with the security and sprinkler system. Located within the gates of River Strand Golf and Country Club, and includes Country Club Membership (membership no longer available when purchasing new construction) Enjoy the 39,000 sq. ft. Tuscan inspired clubhouse and 27 hole Arthur Hills championship golf course, tennis club with 8 Har-Tru lighted courts, pickle ball, 2 state of the art fitness centers with 24/7 access, restaurant offering fine dining and grill room, plus, 8 heated pools including 2 resort style pools with hot tub and resistance pool. Investors will love the rental income from this property plus memberships are transferrable to renters. Within minutes to world class dining, shopping, the Arts of Sarasota, 3 airports, our award winning beaches. Purchase with confidence as there is a 1 year warranty included with the purchase of this wonderful home!

For additional details on this wonderful property click here