Developer accused of scare tactics over Mira Mar preservation

The either/or scenario of twin condo towers to provide capital to preserve the historic structure, or a 10-story apartment "box," was continued by the Planning Board until April.

By Andrew Warfield
| 8:45 a.m. March 20, 2025
| 0 Free Articles Remaining!

Attorney Brenda Patten addresses the Planning Board as (from left) consultant Philip DiMaria and historic preservation specialist architects Igor Reyes and Rick Gonzalez look on.

Manatee-Sarasota

In order to save the locally historic designated Mira Mar building on South Palm Avenue, Sarasota-based Seaward Development needs to maximize the bulk of the property in order to set aside the upward of $30 million needed to rebuild the structure from the inside out.

To do that, Seaward needs the city to approve both a comprehensive plan amendment and a rezoning to allow it to build two tapered, 18-story towers on land between the structure and Mira Mar Court, where current the Downtown Core zone permits only 10 stories. This despite the 18-story Demarcay immediately to the north on a site zoned Downtown Bayfront.

Zoning for the Mira Mar is the lower intensity Downtown Core.