Project to turn Sarasota Winn-Dixie into apartments, hotel seeks city's OK

Since the Winn-Dixie supermarket vacated the Midtown Plaza commercial center a few miles south of downtown Sarasota in 2018, property owner Midtown Associates has sought to rezone and repurpose 3.5 acres of the 7.5-acre site on 1299 S. Tamiami Trail at Bahia Vista Street.

At the time the grocer vacated the 40,000-square-foot space, Midtown Associates and principal Gavin Meshad successfully sought to rezone the property, which includes prominent restaurant and events space Michael’s on East, from Commercial Shopping Center Community to Commercial General District in hopes of attracting a new tenant for the space. There were no plans at that time to make any physical changes to the property.

On June 18, development consultant Joel Freedman appeared before the city’s Development Review Committee on behalf of the owner for the first submittal of a plan to redevelop that southern portion of the site into a mixed-use project including 112 apartments, a 145-room hotel and 5,800 square feet of retail. Of the apartments, 28, or 25%, would be attainable housing units for a period of 30 years. Included is a planned parking structure.

The rezoning was contentious six years ago as residents of the nearby Arlington Park neighborhood opposed bringing the higher density because of fears of bringing additional traffic to the intersection of Bahia Vista Street and South Tamiami Trail. 

During that time, the neighborhood opposed plans for an apartment complex at South Tuttle Avenue and Bahia Vista Street, the former site of Doctors Hospital of Sarasota. That project, Bahia Vista Apartments, is currently under construction.

The redevelopment plan does not impact Michael’s on East or any other merchants on the north side of the property. A Starbucks in an outparcel in front of the former grocery store will be relocated within the development.