- December 13, 2025
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Among the hurdles that remained in Plymouth Harbor’s plans to expand its campus as it works its way through the city’s development review process is a sliver of unused city-owned land on Coon Key.
At its Nov. 17 meeting, the Sarasota City Commission approved the sale of the approximately 650 square feet of ground, a 10-by-65-foot parcel under which lies a stormwater pipe that is no longer used nor is allowed to be used per current regulations.
Located at 700 John Ringling Boulevard, Plymouth Harbor is planning to build 153 new apartments and relocate its fitness and wellness facilities from the current main building, all atop two levels of structured parking. At 25 acres, Plymouth Harbor occupies most of Coon Key, which it shares with Sarasota Yacht Club, with the exception of that 650-square-foot parcel.
“We are in the middle of the DRC review right now for their new project, and that was one of the requirements when we all found out that the city owned this very strange piece of property,” project consultant Joel Freedman told commissioners. “It's very unusual to have this, but we're ready to buy it.”
Plymouth Harbor retained the city's selected independent appraisal firm, Bass Fletcher Associates, for its assessment of the property, which determined a fair market value of $16,350.
The city-owned parcel encroaches on the Plymouth Harbor property and adversely affects its ability to design an efficient parking structure for the proposed new building.
Only two questions arose from the brief discussion. Mayor Debbie Trice asked who would be responsible for the cost of removing the pipe — the answer is Plymouth Harbor as the new owner once the sale is closed prior to March 1, 2026 — and how the $16,350 will be applied to the city’s coffers.
Commissioner Jen Ahearn-Koch suggested the windfall will deposit into the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, a condition that was included in the unanimously approved motion to grant the sale.
As previously reported by the Observer, should the project move through the city approval process on schedule, Plymouth Harbor expects to break ground on the expansion in 2027 with completion sometime in 2029.
This article originally appeared on sister site BusinessObserverFL.com.
