Well-known downtown building being converted to Sarasota Waldorf sales gallery

A once-prominent bright yellow building in downtown Sarasota is being converted into a sales gallery for a nearby luxury condo project. 

The building, at the corner of Ringling Boulevard and U.S. 301, a high-traffic intersection across the street from the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections office, is the future site of the sales gallery for the Waldorf Astoria Residences Sarasota. Crews from Sarasota-based Wolff Construction are working at the site, surrounded by green fencing.

The 0.74-acre property is owned by the Education Foundation of Sarasota County, which purchased it for $6 million in December 2023.

“We’ve leased the property for the Waldorf Astoria Residences Sarasota Sales Gallery,” Education Foundation President and CEO Jennifer Vigne says in an email to the Business Observer, responding to a question about the status of the site. "Renovations are currently underway."

Photo by Elizabeth King

Sarasota-headquartered Ore Development is building the Waldorf Astoria Residences Sarasota in partnership with Winter Garden-based WMG Development. It will have 86 condominiums in an 18-story tower when it is completed in 2029. The project — being developed at the Five Points intersection at Main Street and Pineapple Avenue, where the Zenith office building currently stands — will also include a more than 40,000-square-foot commercial component.

Condos in the to-be-built luxury tower start at $2.2 million. More than $40 million in contracts had been signed in the past month, Sadek Omar, a partner with Ore Development, told the Business Observer in late May.

Currently, the future condo tower site is being prepared for demolition. WMG Development posted a video on social media last week showing crews removing furniture, built-ins and non-load-bearing elements from the Zenith building at 1390 Main St., where the company said crews were removing nine tons daily. Eventually, the building will be demolished to make way for the luxury condominium tower.

Sarasota-based real estate brokerage Michael Saunders & Co. is exclusively representing the Waldorf Astoria Residences Sarasota. Its sales gallery will be located about 0.7 mile away from the site where the luxury tower will be built.

“Preparations are underway for the Waldorf Astoria Residences Sarasota Sales Gallery, which will be located at 100 S. Washington Blvd.,” Michelle Esposito Young, director of sales and marketing for Michael Saunders Developer Services, says in an email to the Business Observer. “The sales gallery will be an exciting milestone for the project.” She declined to provide a timeframe for when the sales gallery may open. 

Turning 100 S. Washington Blvd. into the Waldorf Astoria Residences Sarasota sales gallery is somewhat of a full-circle moment for the real estate firm. Michael Saunders & Co. had offices at the yellow building at the corner of Ringling and Washington Boulevard from 1996 to 2023, when the property was sold, the Business Observer previously reported. The building spans more than 9,700 square feet.