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After several years of false starts, the Sarasota Association of Realtors has finally planned a move of its own — to a new building.
The move, furthermore, was made possible partially by a somewhat unusual swap of property for land. The property is the association's building on Tuttle Avenue, which it has been in since the early 1980s. The land, where the association will build its new headquarters, is three acres near Colonial Oaks Boulevard and Cattlemen Road, not far from the Bee Ridge Road exit of Interstate 75.
“This worked out for us in a way we never could have imagined,” says SAR President Laura Benson, an agent with Michael Saunders & Co. “Sometimes the stars just align.”
Dave McNabb of Bradenton-based White Oak Development owns the land, and he's trading it to the association for the Tuttle Avenue building. McNabb, a homebuilder and land developer, did not return calls for comment.
The association's current space is about 12,000 square feet, and the new building will likely be about 15,000 square feet. But even more significant, say SAR officials, is the new building will come with room for ample parking, something absent at the current space. The association sponsors many training seminars and events for members, and parking goes fast.
“We've been trying to move to a better location for a number of years,” Benson tells Coffee Talk. “It has been difficult to find a location that's convenient to all our members that still has the parking we need.”
But several land deals fell through. Then, last year, local commercial broker Loyd Robbins, with Harry E. Robbins Associates, introduced McNabb to SAR officials. A deal was put together earlier this year.
Robbins' father, Harry Robbins, another local broker, helped the association assemble the deal in the late 1970s for its current building. “We knew the association was looking for property,” says Loyd Robbins, “and we thought this was a good fit.”
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