Fruitville bowling alley submits plans to redevelop into 4-story townhomes

As the transformation of Fruitville Road near downtown continues eastward, the redevelopment of the vacant Sarasota Lanes bowling center at Lime Avenue near Main Street is next up for redevelopment.

The owner of the nearly 2-acre site, Sarasota Lanes LLC, is proposing demolition of the 29,702-square-foot commercial property to make way for 46, four-story townhomes across eight buildings on the site currently home to the bowling center and expansive parking lot. 

No attainable housing is proposed as part of the development.

The proposed project made its first appearance before the city’s Development Review Committee on April 1, which required a resubmittal as multiple staff comments remained to be addressed.

Currently zoned Commercial General with a future land use classification of Urban Edge, the applicant is requesting a rezone of the site to Downtown Edge, an implementing zone district of the Urban Edge future land use classification.

Photo by Andrew Warfield

The plan includes two five-unit buildings and six six-unit buildings, six of the structures lining the perimeter pf the property surrounding two more located in the center of the site. 

To achieve the desired density, the applicant is seeking an administrative adjustment of a 20% reduction in the minimum required lot size from 1,800 square feet to allow a minimum lot size of 1,441 square feet for certain lots. The applicant is also pursuing a Planning Board adjustment to eliminate the private yard requirement for each single-family attached residential zoning lot.

The west side of the property borders the Legacy Trail parallel to School Avenue, and the east side an existing car wash. Each home will have its own two-car garage with individual refuse and recycle containers that will be managed by the individual homeowners.

The plan shows vehicle access provided from East Main Street only via driveway next to the Kane Plaza office building. That driveway is shown to cross the Legacy Trail. 

Sarasota Lanes Manager Tom Hubbard is listed as the applicant. “This is a significant investment in the area which should encourage continued redevelopment on the surrounding properties,” he said in the application.

That redevelopment momentum has already begun. Sarasota Lanes’  proposal comes on the heels of other nearby Fruitville Road redevelopment plans. They include 1899 Fruitville Road, a five-story, 324-unit residential project to cover the block between Gillespie and North Osprey avenues; and Fruitville Gateway, a 274-unit multifamily building covering just more than 3 acres within the block of North Washington Boulevard, East Boulevard Fruitville Road and Fourth Street.