Habitat for Humanity will build 17-unit townhomes in Park East

As the effort continues to bring more attainable housing to Sarasota , Habitat for Humanity has received City Commission approval to build 17 townhomes in the Park East neighborhood.

Planned for a vacant 1.35-acre parcel at the corner of Aspinwall Street and Rhodes Avenue, the attached single-family community is based on the same owner-occupied model of Habitat’s free-standing homes. The units will be platted as individual lots.

With two unanimous votes at its Sept. 15 meeting, the commission approved rezoning from Office Regional District to Urban Mixed Use, the site plan and the subdivision plat plan. The project received Development Review Committee sign-off on March 26, 2025 followed by unanimous Planning Board approval on June 30.

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“We're very excited to have the opportunity to provide 17 townhomes on this site,” Habitat for Humanity of Sarasota President and CEO Renee Snyder told commissioners. “These are single-family homes. They may be attached, but they are two-story structures. And again, it's very much in scale.”

Each home will be approximately 1,765 square feet and include three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a one-car garage. The development will be spread across two buildings, one containing nine units and the other with eight. 

The project is surrounded by a Habitat for Humanity neighborhood of 80 homes, according to Snyder. 

Although Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit developer, it is still required to conform with the city’s tree removal mitigation code. The wooded site included 168 trees at the time of the tree survey, of which 150 are proposed to be removed. Of those, 78 trees and 44 palms require mitigation, 29 are invasive species and two are in poor condition. There are three grand trees on the site, one of which will be removed. 

Mitigation trees to be planted include 72 3-inch caliper trees with 26 additional 3-inch trees required to be planted off site or credit to be paid into the city's tree fund, as the site cannot accommodate the remaining 26 trees required.