Developer plans condo complex across from Selby Gardens

A Miami-area based developer is planning a seven-story condominium building on the site of the former Kodra Professional Center across from Marie Selby Botanical Gardens.

Unilog Group LLC had its initial appearance before the city’s Development Review Committee on June 4 for a project currently called 777 South Palm Avenue Condos. Located along Mound Street (U.S. 41) between Pineapple and Orange avenues, the development is the first to take advantage of both the city’s attainable housing inclusion bonus density and the new transfer of development rights program for the preservation of historic properties.

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The proposed mixed-use development will include approximately 66 units, including five priced as attainable per the city code. It will consist of one building varying in height up to seven stories with 17,946 square feet of retail space. It will feature a five-story podium used for parking is integrated into the building. 

The project site consists of three parcels totaling approximately 1.09 acres. Much of the site was once the Kodra Professional Center, a 56-year-old office building acquired in July 2024 for $5.5 million by a South Florida investment firm named Hollywood Moon Development.

Zoned Downtown Edge and located within the Urban Edge Future Land Use Category, two single-tenant office buildings, which will be demolished, remain on the property.

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Residents’ amenities will include a gym, clubhouse, and a swimming pool on the fourth floor. The primary access points are proposed along South Palm Avenue and South Orange Avenue. The built density of 60 dwelling units per acre more than doubles the permitted base density of the Downtown Edge zoning district of 25 units per acre, but is far short of the available density of 100 units per acre permitted by the attainable housing bonus.

The transfer of development rights from a historic-designated property elsewhere in the downtown area will allow the project to exceed the five-story limit in the Downtown Edge by two floors. The developer has not disclosed from whom it is acquiring the development rights.

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In January 2025, the Sarasota City Commission approved an ordinance to allow owners of historically significant properties in the downtown area to monetize their air rights by selling them to developers of properties in a receiving zone in one of the downtown zone districts. The premise is to preserve historic buildings by providing an opportunity to transfer by-right vertical space, thus preserving the scale of the historic property in perpetuity.

According to documents submitted to the city by land use consultant Kimley-Horn, the 777 South Palm Avenue Condos is compatible with both the growth patterns of the surrounding area and nearby developments. These include Palm Place, located directly north of the site, a seven-story, 35-unit condominium built in 1987, and Embassy House, immediately west of the property across North Palm Avenue, an 18-story, 69-unit condominium built in 1975.