As a resident of downtown Sarasota and a member of the Sansara condominium community, I am calling on my fellow citizens to speak out against the proposed Adagio development.
It is a project that threatens to undermine our city’s planning standards, environmental protections and commitment to inclusive housing.
The Adagio proposal seeks to build two high-rise towers: one for luxury condominiums and another for so-called “attainable” rental units.
The developer is attempting to bypass Sarasota’s zoning, height and density restrictions by invoking the Live Local Act, which is a state law intended to promote affordable housing.
Excluding the community
But this project is not about affordability.
It is about exploiting a well-meaning law to push through a luxury development that isolates moderate-income renters and excludes the community from the planning process.
Despite being the most directly impacted neighbors, Sansara residents were denied a voluntary neighborhood meeting regarding the project. The developer refused to engage, and the city of Sarasota did not require it.
This is not just a procedural oversight; it’s a fundamental failure of public accountability. Decisions that reshape our neighborhoods must be made transparently, and with meaningful input from those who live here.
The Adagio project also violates Sarasota’s zoning code, which requires that attainable housing be integrated and indistinguishable from market-rate units.
Instead, the developer proposes a separate tower with different entrances, amenities and views – a design that echoes the “poor door” controversies seen in other cities.
This is economic segregation, plain and simple, and it runs counter to both local policy and the spirit of the Live Local Act.
Further, the project’s hybrid model – luxury condos in one tower and rentals in another – does not clearly meet the Live Local Act’s definition of a “multifamily rental development,” which is required to invoke its protections.
The law mandates that 40% of units be affordable rentals for at least 30 years, yet the developer has not shown how this will be enforced. Without binding agreements or oversight, the promise of affordability is hollow.
In addition, the Adagio plan calls for the removal of more than 100 trees, potentially violating Sarasota’s tree protection ordinance.
It will also strain traffic, parking and infrastructure in the downtown core.
Demand transparency, input
These are not minor concerns; they are serious violations of local regulations that remain fully enforceable, even under the Live Local Act.
And let’s be clear: the Downtown Core (DTC) zoning district may not even qualify under the Act’s provisions.
The law was designed to introduce affordable housing into commercial and industrial zones – not to override residential planning in areas already zoned for mixed use.
We do not oppose affordable housing. We support it.
But we oppose the misuse of affordable housing laws to justify exclusionary luxury development that disregards local rules and silences community voices.
Downtown residents: this is your moment to act.
Contact your city commissioners.
Demand transparency.
Insist on public meetings.
Ask hard questions about zoning, environmental impact and housing equity.
The future of Sarasota should be shaped by its people, not by developers working behind closed doors.
Dean Scarborough is president of the Sansara Condominium Association in downtown Sarasota.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Downtown Sarasota doesn’t need Adagio high-rise condo | Opinion
Reporting by Dean Scarborough Guest columnist / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
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