Sarasota retail property across from SMH sells for $7M

Blue Waters Development Group, a Cape Coral real estate developer and property owner, has bought a retail building on Tamiami Trail in Sarasota that, along with a neighboring property it owns, could be redeveloped.

The property that sold is at 1427 S. Tamiami Trail, across from Sarasota Memorial Hospital.

It sits on 1.35 acres and is 13,000 square feet with a tenant roster that includes Integrated Dental of Florida, Playa Bowls, Curaleaf Dispensary Sarasota and Verizon.

Blue Waters paid $7 million. The previous owner, Plantation Grove, paid $3.5 million for the property in 2011, according to property records. 

With the purchase, Blue Waters now owns 3.35 continuous acres across from the hospital, says Jag Grewal of Ian Black Real Estate, “which makes this site more viable for future development.”

The second property is the 99-room Baymont by Wyndham Sarasota at 1425 S. Tamiami Trail, which Blue Waters bought for $8 million in early 2022. The hotel sits on 2.2 acres and is behind the retail building.

The reason the proximity to SMH is important is that it is undergoing a major expansion which includes the April opening of the 82,000-square-foot, $75 million Kolschowsky Research and Education Institute. And in 2023, it opened the $71 million Cornell Behavioral Health Pavilion.

“With the hospital across the street and no existing hotels in the vicinity, this is a great spot for a mixed-use development with a hotel, apartments and retail,” Grewal says.

Grewal represented Blue Waters in the deal. Ian Black’s Steve Horn represented Plantation Grove.