Downtown Sarasota businesses led by a popular restaurant owner are making progress on plans to relocate about a mile east.
Plans for five bungalow-based business owners to relocate to a new home on Fruitville Road are evolving, with the creation of a Sarasota Bungalow Village website, as well as the possibility of the group receiving at least one donated bungalow from elsewhere.
Tammy Hauser, owner of Discover Sarasota Tours, told the Sarasota City Commission about the latest developments during the public comment period of the July 20 meeting.
Why are the five business owners planning a move?
The owners of five businesses, Tess and Tim Craig of The Artful Giraffe, Wendy Lee Goldberg of The Breakfast House, Cathy Vande Mheen of The Cookie Cottage, Hauser, and Discover Sarasota Tours, and René and Kim Zimmermann of Siegfried’s Restaurant and Biergarten are all among the 17 shops and restaurants located on the 3.5-acre parcel bounded by 4th Street, Gillespie Avenue, Fruitville Road and Osprey Avenue.
Franklin, Tennessee-based Bristol Development Group plans to build a five-story multifamily housing complex to replace the colorful bungalows.
The proposed apartment building, dubbed 1899 Fruitville Road, would contain 324 residences, with 36 of those priced as attainable homes, first-floor shops and restaurants, a six-level parking garage, along with a gym, clubhouse and pool.
Those five establishments, as well as the others on the property, remain open for business.
Business owners have individual leases with the property owners, Alex and Marlene Lancaster.
What’s the latest on the Bungalow Village?
Since Goldberg closed on purchase of the Sarasota Bungalow Village site on May 12, the business owners have met with the developer, as well as receiving offers from other developers willing to give them usable 1920s vintage cottages.
“People are coming out of the woodwork and wanting to donate cottages to us that are part of another development, which is exciting,” Hauser told the city commission.
Scott Stevenson, who is in the process of developing Sarasota Motor Club, essentially a yacht club for car enthusiasts, at 1060 Goodrich Ave, Sarasota, will donate a 1,048-square-foot bungalow at 1716 10th Way that must be demolished as part of that redevelopment effort to Bungalow Village effort.
He told the Herald-Tribune that, once he received estimates on the cost to demolish the structure and the cost to move it, he would make a donation representing the “delta” of those two costs.
Hauser said that there have been talks with representatives of Bristol Development, who have expressed a willingness to sell existing bungalows to the business owners but no financial commitment to help with the cost or relocating the structures.
What’s next?
Hauser told the city commission that the group has established a website: sarasotabungalowvillage.com, where people can view a draft site plan of the new location, read about the five businesses or donate to the effort to establish Sarasota Bungalow Village.
Because it is a for-profit effort, donations are not tax-deductible.
The fundraising goal is $2.43 million, though the cost of moving the bungalows have not yet been established.
Hauser also noted that the group is seeking pro bono assistance from a real estate attorney to help with the issues of locating at least five separate businesses on the parcel that Goldberg owns.
The bungalow website lists five phases before the new complex can open.
Currently it is in the fundraising phase.
That will be followed by site preparation, which includes installation of utilities, foundations and infrastructure for the relocated bungalows.
Next, the relocated bungalows would be restored and prepared for a reopening, followed by opening of the new Sarasota Bungalow Village campus.
Earle Kimel primarily covers local governments in Sarasota County as well as land development and environmental issues for the Herald-Tribune. Follow him on Facebook, and X. He can be reached by email at earle.kimel@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Downtown Sarasota businesses reveal relocation progress
Reporting by Earle Kimel, Sarasota Herald-Tribune / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Earle Kimel, Sarasota Herald-Tribune | USA TODAY Network
