Sarasota rejects 58-unit apartment project north of downtown

Sarasota city commissioners side with residents of The Strand to nix the long-delayed plans to build 58 apartments on the 1700 block.

By Andrew Warfield
| 6:30 a.m. July 26, 2025
| 1 Free Article Remaining!

The vacant property at 1715 N. Tamiami Trail stands between the U.S. 41 and The Strand condominiums to the rear.

Manatee-Sarasota

Citing concerns of residents of The Strand condominiums along Whitaker Bayou, the Sarasota City Commission on Monday denied by a 4-1 vote a rezoning ordinance amendment and site plan application for a 58-unit apartment development across two buildings at 1701 and 1715 N. Tamiami Trail. The project is a few blocks north of downtown.

In the planning stages since the application was submitted to the city in 2022, property owner Tammy II LLC of Chicago had encountered multiple obstacles since acquiring the site from the original master developer of The Strand, Jebco Ventures of Sarasota.

First was the illness and death of the civil engineer, then the death of the surveyor. Then project consultant Joel Freedman developed cancer for which he underwent extensive treatment. And now, Freedman told commissioners, developer principal Jason Vondrachek is dealing with his own medical issues and had planned to sell the property once the project was approved.

The proposed apartments along North Tamiami Trail at 16th and 17th streets are outlined in red. The Strand condominiums are located to the left of the site along Whitaker Bayou.

All of that led to a protracted delay in the project and, once notice was sent to the residents of the May 14 public hearing before the Planning Board — which voted to not recommend approval of the project — they were surprised to learn that what was sold to them as a boutique commercial presence along Tamiami Trail had become plans for an apartment complex.

“That's no excuse, but it's just been a strange situation of why the delay has happened,” Freedman told commissioners. “Having a civil engineer pass away in the middle of a project is not good. A new one can't just come in and take it over. They have to analyze everything and redraw everything.”

Flooding that regularly occurs in the parking garage area of The Strand. — Flooding regularly occurs in the parking garage area of The Strand.

Meanwhile, residents of The Strand are dealing with issues of their own, namely frequent flooding from heavy rains that leave standing water in the garage, elevator pits and elsewhere on the property. That's because the drainage system discharges directly to tidal water in Whitaker Bayou. If the tide is up during the storm, there is nowhere for the water to go and, once there, can take days to recede.

Representatives of the developer, including local civil engineer Mark Mueller, told commissioners the four-story apartment buildings will not add more runoff to The Strand — which stands northwest of the project site — but it won’t solve residents’ problem, either.

Addressing traffic concerns expressed by the residents, the development team and city staff insisted the 58 apartments would result in significantly lower impact on traffic than would the originally planned 16,500-square-foot commercial use previously approved at 1715 and whatever could be built to the zoning code at 1701. That lot was acquired by the applicant separately and from a different prior owner.

The entire 1.78-acre site is zoned North Trail with a future land use classification of Urban Mixed Use. It may be rezoned Urban Mixed-Use 3 as an implementing zone district.

Sarasota Mayor Liz Alpert, who cast the dissenting vote on Kathy Kelly-Ohlrich’s motion to deny the request, warned commissioners and residents that the plan represents the lower end of the density and scope of project that could be built on the property. With the plan that was under consideration on July 21, whatever is eventually built there will not be subject to addressing The Strand's flooding problems as code will not permit runoff to exceed current volumes.

Water rushing down exterior stairs and into low-lying areas of The Strand. — Water rushes down exterior stairs and into low-lying areas of The Strand.

“My question to all of you is, what could go there that would be less impactful than what's being planned?” Alpert asked. “No matter what, there is going to be the same situation.”

Ohlrich, in pressing to end the discussion following her motion, insisted the only matter for consideration is the one presently before the commission and not what might come forward in the future.

“The issue on the table today is what we're concerned about,” Ohlrich responded to Alpert as the debate heated. “What could go there is none of our business.”

“Then what do you envision as a lesser impact that what’s being proposed?” Alpert shot back.

“I don't envision," replied Ohlich. "That’s not my job,” replied Ohlrich.

Long live local

One use for a site in Sarasota where City Commissioners recently rejected a proposal for a 58-unit apartment project comes from Tallahassee.

That's in the form of the state's Live Local Act — which supersedes municipal zoning regulations in zone districts that permit commercial, industrial or mixed-use purposes. The properties at 1701 and 1715 North Tamiami Trail are subject to the legislation, which allows qualifying developments to bypass City Commission and Planning Board approval providing a development meets all relevant code requirements in the administrative review process and no adjustments are requested.

Designed to encourage affordable housing development in urban areas, the Live Local Act permits a maximum building height comparable to the tallest structure permitted within a one-mile radius of the site. That would allow for an 18-story tower on both lots providing 40% of the residential units are priced as affordable for those earning up to 120% of the area median income. The nearest point of the Downtown Bayfront zone district is seven blocks to the south, beginning at 10th Street, just less than one mile away.

This article originally appeared on sister site YourObserver.com.

author

Andrew Warfield

Andrew Warfield is the Sarasota Observer city reporter. He is a four-decade veteran of print media. A Florida native, he has spent most of his career in the Carolinas as a writer and editor, nearly a decade as co-founder and editor of a community newspaper in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.