- December 11, 2025
-
-
Loading
Loading
While speaking before the Downtown Improvement District Board of Directors during a recent meeting, Downtown Sarasota Condominium Association board member David Lough advised of a looming deceleration of residential development in downtown proper, but not necessarily so in the greater downtown area.
Lough, who keeps detailed data of residential development in downtown and in his Rosemary District neighborhood, noted new development is migrating north and east of the Downtown Bayfront and Downtown Core zone districts as those become built-out.
Regarded by some in Sarasota government as an unofficial city employee because of his presence in most meetings of various boards that affect downtown development, Lough brought the receipts to educate the DID board members of what’s coming to the center city, and where new development hotspots are emerging.
Citing the underway construction of residential properties in the downtown zone districts — which includes the Rosemary Residential Overlay District — that range in various stages from site clearing for Amara on Golden Gate Point to the topping off of the Ritz-Carlton Residences in The Quay, Lough highlighted:
And more is on the way.
“We've got 971 units under construction as of now,” Lough said, adding that there are some 1,500 in varying stages of the city’s development review and approval process. Although it’s feasible not all of those will make it to construction, “In theory, six or seven years from now we could have an additional 2,600 dwelling units.”
Residential development in downtown is also trending toward more rental apartments, suggesting a greater emphasis on year-round over seasonal residents and for, relatively speaking, less pricey options. Rental apartment developments recently completed were Aster & Links at the 1900 block of Main Street and Cordelia in The Quay, which combined bring 664 new apartments, none of them, though, fitting into the city-defined affordable or attainable price category.
For those not priced affordable — the luxury market — Gigi Silverberg, broker associate with Douglas Elliman, said the new inventory coming online may be more than the market can absorb right now.
“I don't see that many people coming here. I don't see the demand now," Silverberg said. "That may change, but we’ve had one of the slowest seven months ever. There's not enough people coming to absorb all the condos that are going up. But these guys are professionals. They do their studies, and they think that there is, but you can't see it in the sales for sure.”
Simon Bacon, director of developer services with Michael Saunders & Co., agrees the luxury condo market has slowed since its mid-COVID peak, but he sees signs of stabilization. Roughly half of the new condos under construction, he said, are under contract.
"I think that in general, it's going to be a very competitive market," Bacon said, adding typical days on the market now are ranging from 100 to 120 days, which he calls the norm from 2015 to 2019.
"That is a good sign that says to us that the market is stabilizing, and the listing discount has started to reduce as well," Bacon said. "Those are metrics that flipped upside down in the second quarter of 2022, which was the statistical peak of the COVID bump, something that we take as a positive sign of the market kind of finding its footing again."
Of the 971 multifamily residences under development, 584 of them, or 60.1%, are planned as rentals, 171 of those in the affordable category provided by both private development and the Sarasota Housing Authority.
Although luxury condos remain dominant among the 19 projects in the review and approval pipeline 452 of the 1,074 units, or 42% — albeit subject to change at this early stage — are planned as rentals, 385 of them affordable.
The following show the projects under construction, projects approved or in the city approval process and a sampling of downtown condominium and mixed-use developments.
Downtown residential projects under construction | |||
| Project | For Sale | For Rent | Affordable* |
| The Edge, 290 Cocoanut Ave. | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| McGillicuddy Arts Plaza, 1233 First St. | 0 | 24 | 24 |
| Payne Park Townhomes, 200 S. Washington Blvd. | 0 | 50 | 0 |
| The Gallery, 1329 Fourth St. | 61 | 0 | 0 |
| Villa Ballada, 450 Kumquat Ct. | 22 | 0 | 0 |
| Bayside Club Apartments, 850 N. Cocoanut Ave. | 0 | 253 | 0 |
| Aspire on Tenth, 1313 10th St. | 0 | 157 | 47 |
| Lofts on Lemon II, 850 N. Lemon Ave. | 0 | 100 | 100 |
| Ritz-Carlton Residences II, 555 Quay Commons | 78 | 0 | 0 |
| One Park, 1100 Boulevard of the Arts | 86 | 0 | 0 |
| Amara, 550-590 Golden Gate Point | 54 | 0 | 0 |
| The Owen, 325 Golden Gate Point | 29 | 0 | 0 |
| Six88, 688 Golden Gate Point | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| The Peninsula, 253 Golden Gate Point | 20 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 387 | 584 | 171 |
Approved or in city approval process (subject to changes) | |||
| Project | For Sale | For Rent | Affordable* |
| Adiago, 1360 Ringling Blvd. | 103 | 69 | 69 |
| Mira Mar, 49 S. Palm Ave. | 70 | 0 | 0 |
| Waldorf Astoria Residences, 1390 Main St. | 86 | 7 | 7 |
| High Line, 31 N. Osprey Ave. | 126 | 16 | 16 |
| 2101 Ringling, 2101 Ringling Blvd. | 0 | 22 | 2 |
| Sarasota Station, 300 Audubon Place | 69 | 0 | 202 |
| 777 S. Palm, 777 S. Palm Ave. | 66 | 0 | 5 |
| Artist Court Residences, 200 S. Washington Blvd. | 0 | 242 | 26 |
| The Boheme, 420 Kumquat Ct. | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| 711 & 717 Orange, 711-717 N. Orange Ave. | 19 | 0 | 2 |
| Bayside North, 1250 10th St. | 0 | 96 | 15 |
| Cohen Court, 1425 Eighth St. | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Rosemary Townhomes, 1434 Ninth St. | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| Saravela, 430 N. Tamiami Trail | 282 | 0 | 40** |
| 7th and Central, Seventh Street at Cohen Way | 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 333 Cocoanut, 1274 Fourth St. | 18 | 0 | 0 |
| 1000 Boulevard of the Arts (former Hyatt) | 117 | 0 | 0 |
| One Park West, 701 Quay Commons | 69 | 0 | 0 |
| 625 Golden Gate, 625 Golden Gate Point | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 1,074 | 452 | 385 |
| Grand total | 1,461 | 1,036 | 556 |
| *included among total units; **for sale or rental not determined | |||
