Developer shrinks size of affordable housing project

Harvey Vengroff’s plans to inject affordable housing into the city of Sarasota may be smaller than he originally envisioned, but the outspoken entrepreneur thinks the project now has a better chance of breaking ground.

The city’s Development Review Committee reviewed plans Wednesday for a 400-unit apartment complex on Audobon Place, just northwest of Fruitville Road and Lime Avenue, where Vengroff had originally intended to include up to 800 apartments.

“There were a lot of people who turned out who seemed to be for the project and for affordable housing,” Vengroff said. 

But a deficit in parking requirements remains an issue.

Although the city requires two parking spaces per unit, Vengroff’s planning representative Joe Barnette said the developer could charge $600 for renters without a car and an additional $50 for those with vehicles to incentivize alternate modes of transportation.

Vengroff said he hopes to shed some of the industrial property he owns to raise the $30 million needed for the five-building development, while the project will advance to two neighborhood workshops.

“I can’t imagine too many people being against affordable housing,” Vengroff said.