- April 15, 2026
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Planning is underway to demolish multiple downtown buildings and construct the Waldorf Astoria Residences Sarasota in their place. While the construction project will take a few years to complete, movement at the location — at the Five Points roundabout at Main Street and Pineapple Avenue — is expected to begin this summer.
Sarasota-based real estate investment and development company Jebcore Cos. is partnering with Winter Garden-based WMG Development and Hilton on the project. Real estate brokerage Michael Saunders & Co. is exclusively representing the property, where condos start at $2.2 million.
Sales began in January, and have been going well. “We wrote four contracts in the last two weeks,” Michael Saunders Director of Sales and Marketing Michelle Young said at an April 15 luncheon hosted by CREW Sarasota-Manatee, where she gave an update on the Waldorf Astoria Residences.
When it is built, the condo tower will be “the tallest building by … 90 feet in downtown” Sarasota, Young said. The project will include 86 condominiums; 42,000 square feet of retail space; and 60,000 square feet of amenities.
The site where the condo tower and commercial space will be built encompasses the Zenith building, a parking structure and another building, Young noted. Together, the properties cost more than $22 million. Jebcore purchased the 12-story Zenith office tower at 1390 Main St. through an LLC for nearly $17.54 million in November 2025, according to Sarasota County property records. The company also bought the two-story office building at 40 S. Pineapple Ave. for $4.5 million in September 2025, property records show.
Removal of the existing structures will be done in phases, according to Young.
“They're actually going to be taking it apart instead of blowing it up,” Young said, starting from the inside with dismantling plumbing and electrical systems. The project team was working with FPL on the staging plan at the moment, she said.
“The plan is, if everything goes well … they would start the demo early to mid-summer,” Young said, taking the building apart a few levels at a time and removing debris. “It’s an eight-month process.”
Depending on the schedule and weather, groundbreaking for the Waldorf Astoria Residences Sarasota could occur in April or May 2027, according to Young. Florida-based construction firm Moss will oversee construction.
Adjacent to the condo tower will be a building with commercial space, what the developers call attainable housing and a garage.
Developers are speaking with companies that could deliver a restaurant there, according to Young. They “want to bring something fabulous … that's fitting of the Waldorf Astoria and to elevate downtown,” she said. The restaurant would be open to the public and would also have the capacity to provide meals and room service for residents in the condo tower, she added.
The project team is also working to attract “fashion houses” and “elevated retail” in the commercial area, she said.
To help get that going, On April 10 and April 11, the developers hosted designers like Miu Miu, Prada and Valentino at downtown condo project The Edge, where “they did over $100,000 in sales” that weekend, Young said.
“A lot of us in this space hear from consumers and developers that one of the amenities that we're missing is top-tier shopping for the luxury and the high-net-worth and the ultra-high-net-worth buyers” in Sarasota, Young said. “One of the reasons we held the pop-up event is … convincing some of these brands that we have the market for them.”
Above the 42,000 square feet of commercial space will be seven one-bedroom apartments designated as attainable housing, Young said.
“First and foremost, they would go to the staff within the Waldorf,” Young said, “and then next would be anybody working in the retail and restaurant sector. So hopefully it's helping house those people that are serving the residents and the guests."
There will also be parking underneath the retail space.
The condo tower will include floor plans ranging from one to five bedrooms with 14-foot ceilings and private elevator access. An amenity level will be located on the seventh floor, according to Young, with condos on floors eight through 22. Even though the building is technically 18 stories, there will be 22 floors due to half-levels dedicated to parking, Young said.
Drivers will enter off Miramar Court, while a pedestrian entrance will be off Pineapple.
Among the amenities will be Waldorf Astoria’s signature Peacock Alley Lounge, a library, private dining room, wellness center with spa treatment rooms, Pilates and motion studios, infrared saunas and steam rooms, golf simulator, theater lounge, guest suites and spaces for children and teens, project officials previously said. A 25,000-square-foot outdoor area will include a pool, hot and cold plunge, entertainment lawn, shaded grove, pavilion with bar and grilling stations.
Construction is expected to last through the third or fourth quarter of 2029, according to Young.
The condo project is bringing the Waldorf Astoria brand to Sarasota, which Young said is establishing itself in the luxury market with projects like the Rosewood Residences on Lido and St. Regis on Longboat.
“We're talking to other luxury brands, and they're talking beyond the residences now,” Young said. “The next thing is to prove to the brands that we can support the hotel that goes with it.”
