Sarasota County to buy medical examiner property for $21.6M

Sarasota County commissioners on Tuesday authorized the county to execute a contract to buy 4510 Fruitville Road, which houses the District 12 Medical Examiner’s Office. The purchase price will be $21.6 million.

The 4.3-acre Fruitville Road facility includes two buildings. One is a single-story building for the morgue. The other is two stories and houses the medical examiner’s administrative offices on the first floor with space for Sarasota County on the second floor, according to a memo from Sarasota County Director of General Services Evelio (Dan) Rodriguez and Director of Planning and Development Services Matthew Osterhoudt. Two appraisals supported the $21.6 million purchase price, the memo says.

The owner of the property is 4480 Fruitville LLC, an entity whose registered agent is John LaCivita, president and CEO of Willis Smith Construction. (Records list the official name as Frank J. LaCivita.)

"Our primary goal in developing this project was to provide a significant value-add for Sarasota County," 4480 Fruitville LLC says in an emailed statement provided to the Business Observer. "We recognized a critical need for a facility that required both a competitive value proposition and a delivery timeline far swifter than the traditional government bidding process typically allows, especially through the COVID crisis."

Before the development of the medical examiner's office complex on Fruitville Road began in 2021, Sarasota County had been paying Sarasota Memorial Hospital to use its facilities for autopsies.

"As local developers, we were proud to help pioneer Sarasota County’s first vertical Public-Private Partnership (P3) concept," 4480 Fruitville LLC says in a statement. "This structure allowed Sarasota County to benefit from private-sector efficiencies while ensuring the taxpayers received a high-quality, essential service asset."

Photo by Elizabeth King

Lakewood Ranch-based Willis Smith Construction built the facility, a project completed in May 2023.

Since then, the county has been on a three-year lease with 4480 Fruitville LLC, renting the property for a little more than $5 million during that period. The lease is scheduled to end May 14 and includes an option to buy the property. Sarasota County plans to exercise that option and purchase 4510 Fruitville Road before the lease term expires.

Commissioners unanimously voted to execute the contract to buy the property without discussion, as part of the board’s Jan. 27 consent agenda.

Next steps will be to notify 4480 Fruitville LLC of the county’s intent and submit the contract for execution.

"While our initial intent was to maintain the property as a long-term investment, we fully support and understand the county’s decision to exercise their option to purchase," 4480 Fruitville LLC says in a Jan. 27 emailed statement to the Business Observer. "We are pleased that the transition is moving forward on terms that are highly beneficial to the taxpayers, as our commitment has always been to the greater good and long-term health of the Sarasota community."

In addition to being registered to LaCivita, state records show 4480 Fruitville LLC is managed by two LLCs associated with local business leaders. One is DJ Swamp III Properties LLC, with Willis Smith Construction chair David Sessions listed as the registered agent. The other is JJ&K State LLC, which is registered to Joe Hembree, president of Sarasota commercial real estate firm Hembree & Associates. 

Once the representatives for 4480 Fruitville, including the two LLCs, sign the contract, it will trigger a 90- to 120-day closing period during which the county will perform standard due diligence.

This article has been updated to include comment from 4480 Fruitville LLC as well as rent data from Sarasota County.