Plans for a five-story multifamily complex that would replace a set of colorful bungalows in downtown Sarasota are progressing but have yet to receive partial sign-off from the city’s Development Review Committee.
The proposed apartment building, dubbed 1899 Fruitville Road, would contain 324 residences, with 36 of those priced as attainable homes, first-floor shops, a six-level parking garage, along with a gym, clubhouse and pool.
The complex it would replace on the 3.5-acre parcel bounded by 4th Street, Gillespie Avenue, Fruitville Road and Osprey Avenue, is a collection of 1920s and ‘30s bungalows that once had been housing but morphed into a collection of 17 shops and restaurants.
What is the status of 1899 Fruitville Road?
Representatives of Kimley-Horn, the planning firm shepherding the project through the approval process for Franklin, Tennessee-based Bristol Development Group, met with the Sarasota DRC May 6, hoping to receive partial sign-off on the plans.
Civil analyst Emily Griffiths and landscape architect and project manager Kelsie Shy answered many of the DRC questions, but some items remain unresolved, including an agreement that would establish which units would be attainable for a minimum of 30 years.
That agreement must be filed prior to site plan approval.
What’s unique about the 1899 Fruitville Road site?
The 3.5 acres are a collection of 22 parcels owned by Alex and Marlene Lancaster, either through a revocable trust or through Marlex Corp. of Sarasota, a real estate holding company they established in 1996.
Though the structures date back to the 1920s and 1930s, they are not considered historic, noted Tammy Hauser, CEO of Discover Sarasota Tours, which occupies the bungalow at 1826 4th Street.
The area had been residences for performers associated with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, which used Sarasota as its winter home.
That circus link used to include the parcel on the corner of Fruitville Road and U.S. 301.
That site was once occupied by the Old Heidelberg Castle, which was established by the late Bruno Rudolf Rode.
Rode, who performed with the circus for three years, opened the German-style establishment in 1972 with his wife, Eva Kuhn, his brother, Hans, and sister-in-law, Rosi.
Rosi has eaten at Siegfried’s regularly and has become friends with the owners, René and Kim Zimmermann.
It was razed in 1996 with the site now occupied by a Walgreens drugstore and the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce.
Where will the bungalow businesses go?
At least five of the business owners hope to relocate their bungalows and businessess about a mile east on Fruitville Road, Hauser told the Sarasota City Commission at its May 4 meeting.
Those businesses include The Breakfast House, Siegfried’s Restaurant and German Biergarten, The Artful Giraffe, Discover Sarasota Tours and The Cookie Cottage.
Hauser noted that Wendy Lee Goldberg, founder and owner of The Breakfast House, is planning to close on the parcel that would be home to the new businesses.
Meanwhile the owners have been reaching out to everyone from the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation and Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County to Visit Sarasota for guidance on everything from how to move the bungalows and cottages to how to establish a small dining and shopping campus.
Hauser said there is also hope that the developer would help move the structures to the new location, in lieu of demolishing them on site.
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: Popular Sarasota bungalow district faces major redevelopment plan
Reporting by Earle Kimel, Sarasota Herald-Tribune / Sarasota Herald-Tribune
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