Town expects plans soon for Kors' Gulf lots

Fashion designer Michael Kors, reportedly the buyer of two adjacent Gulf-front lots that sold for $6 million in November, plans to submit an application for a large Gulf-front single family home soon, according to a Longboat Key town planner.

Paulinebea LLC, a Delaware-based limited liability company, purchased the residential parcels at 6271 and 6281 Gulf of Mexico Drive. The company’s New York address matches the address of the designer’s New York condominium.

Senior Planner Steve Schield said the town met with developer Michael Walker of Sarasota-based Michael K. Walker & Associates Inc., a luxury custom home building company, for a pre-planning conference about the two Gulf-front lots on Monday afternoon. Schield said Walker did not disclose the name of his client or submit plans.

The parcels have been cleared of invasive species, as required by town code before developing a property.

“I suspect something’s going to be submitted in the next two or three weeks,” Schield said. “We went over what could be built, the zoning requirements, height restrictions and that sort of thing.”

Town regulations allow for a single two-story home on the property and 20% coverage of the 2.25-acre property.

“They could have a fairly good-sized home,” Schield said.

News of the purchase comes months after rumors began circulating that Kors was shopping for real estate in the area. Kors had reportedly been spotted at the Ringling Museum of Art’s “Icon of Style” opening in November and at Saks Fifth Avenue in Sarasota.

The transaction was the largest recorded sale in the region for a vacant Gulf-front parcel since 2004.

Michael Moulton, of Michael Saunders & Co.’s Longboat Key South office, was the listing agent of the property; Beverly Alter and Deborah Beacham, also of Michael Saunders & Co., were the selling agents.
At the time of the sale, Moulton described the rarity of the property.

“The typical lot is 100 feet or less on the waterfront but this is 200 feet,” Moulton said in November. “There’s very few parcels like that.”

Kors is expected to open a store at the University Town Center Mall that’s slated to open in October. The designer also has stores at Tampa’s International Plaza and Naples’ Waterside Shops and outlet stores in Ellenton and Estero, as well as approximately a dozen stores on Florida’s West Coast.

Contact Robin Hartill at [email protected].