Mound Street condo project sailing through staff review

With few comments remaining to be addressed, a 66-unit, mixed-use condominium development on Mound Street has received partial sign-off from the city’s Development Review Committee on only its first resubmittal.

Located between Orange and Pineapple avenues directly across from Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, the development currently named 777 South Palm Avenue Condos, proposed by Unilog Group of Miami, will be the first development to take advantage of both the city’s affordable housing bonus density program and its new Transfer of Development Rights historic preservation initiative.

Standing on 1.1 acres on the former Kodra Professional Center building, five of the 66 residences will be priced as affordable per the city’s program. It will be one building of varying height up to seven stories with 17,946 square feet of commercial space. A five-story podium used for parking will be integrated into the building.

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The project achieved two additional floors above the five-story Downtown Edge limit via the transfer of development rights acquisition from a non-identified qualified downtown historic property. In January 2025, the Sarasota City Commission approved an ordinance to allow owners of historically significant properties in the downtown area to monetize their air rights by selling them developers of properties in a receiving zone in one of the downtown zone districts.

The built density of 60 dwelling units per acre more than doubles the permitted base density of Downtown Edge of 25 units per acre, although well below the available density of 100 units per acre permitted by the attainable housing bonus.

Because the property is located within a downtown zone district, the project will require only administrative approval. The developer is not seeking any zoning code adjustments that would require Planning Board review.