- June 13, 2026
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A growing Sarasota County business has hit a roadblock: how to expand in a county with a shortage of industrial space.
Rick Reid, owner of Handcrafted Iron Doors, has been building out his company for the past several years on Consumer Court, near Fruitville Road east of Interstate 75.
“We have 21 people here now, and I can't hire anybody — I can't grow my business anymore because both of my buildings are full and I have no space,” Reid says.
The obstacle Reid faces is becoming a concerning trend in Sarasota County, say some economic development officials, commercial real estate brokers and business leaders. By one estimate, the county has lost at least a dozen projects in the past four years due to the "not enough space" conundrum. The jobs, tax base and economic multiplier effect that would come with those projects have likewise never come to fruition.
The solution, say economic development leaders: the county needs to shift some zoning, height and other restrictions around business parks. “Business parks equal job creation," Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County Vice President Joshua Ewen says, "and so the more availability and diversity of the type of sites, the more opportunities we have for job creation within Sarasota County."
But county commissioners, citing the potential for unintended consequences, aren't keen to change the rules — yet.
The back-and-forth and delay is of little help to Reid.
His company, Handcrafted Iron Doors, operates out of 7,000- and 2,500-square-foot buildings. Doors made off-site are customized to specification in Sarasota by Reid's employees in those buildings.
“I have four crews, and they’re installing one to two doors every day, from Jacksonville to Naples," Reid says.
The business grew the number of doors sold by 31% year-over-year in 2025 and is up by 21% as of May this year, according to Reid.
“We’re growing so quickly from a product standpoint," Reid says, "but we could grow even faster if I could hire more employees.”
Reid anticipated the growth and planned for it. In 2021, he purchased 3.38 acres at 50 Debrecen Road, along Fruitville Road, for $770,000, according to Sarasota County property records.
Working with Sarasota-based Hoyt Architects, he came up with a concept plan to put a 15,000-square-foot and 20,400-square-foot building on the site.
“Our biggest problem right now is I can't go in there and rezone the property and build a new headquarters, because of some of the limitations on the zoning,” Reid says.
The Debrecen Road property is currently zoned open use estate, which allows for one single-family residence on a 3 to 5-acre site.
Reid could submit a binding comp plan to construct an office building, but it could only be 15,000 square feet, which he says is not large enough. He adds that he would also need to be able to accommodate his commercial vehicles.
“If I did the office-type complex, I wouldn't be allowed to park my trucks in the parking lot,” Reid says.
He was hoping to rezone his property as a business park, but there is currently a 10-acre requirement.
“There’s just not enough industrial property to be able to support businesses” in Sarasota County, says Reid. "It's restricting the growth of my company" and could force him to look elsewhere.
Looking elsewhere is exactly what Sarasota EDC President and CEO Erin Silk doesn't want to hear.
Since 2022, Sarasota County has lost 13 projects to neighboring jurisdictions due to the lack of available sites, according to the EDC. “Most of those companies are now located in Manatee County,” says Silk.
Many of the projects are in manufacturing, logistics and distribution, while two were in aerospace and defense, Silk says.
To help create shovel-ready sites for companies looking to scale, the EDC began working in 2019 with Sarasota County to establish the business park zone district, which county commissioners approved in 2022. It applies to properties of at least 10 acres fronting these corridors: Fruitville Road, Bee Ridge Road, State Road 681, South River Road and Lorraine Road.
Business parks must consist of office, light industrial and limited commercial and service uses, according to Sarasota County code. Heavy industrial and residential uses are not allowed. The minimum size for a business park is 10 acres, with a maximum building height of 35 feet and greenbelt/buffer of at least 50 feet. Business parks are “intended to provide for economic development and employment in proximity to existing and planned residential development,” the code states.
Since the business park zone district was approved in 2022, however, there has been an 85% increase in property costs and a 30% increase in construction costs, according to Slk. As a result, she says, the 10-acre land requirement is becoming problematic.
“What we thought in 2019 would be a wonderful solution to create more campus-style business parks…[is] just not financially feasible anymore,” Silk says. “Our market has changed dramatically. What was an affordable option [for] business development in 2019 truly is no longer affordable.”
Since 2022, there have been just four requests to rezone land to become business parks, two of which remain in progress, according to Sarasota County Director of Planning and Development Services Matthew Osterhoudt. The two approved business park districts are on Fruitville Road, on 12.46 acres and 28.64 acres, respectively.
“Our current available industrial office inventory is limited, fragmented and increasingly difficult to utilize,” Silk said at a June 2 Sarasota County commission meeting, where she requested commissioners amend the requirement from 10 acres to 2 acres, among other changes. “The reality is that we are running out of competitive employment sites.”
Analyses by the EDC over the years support this claim. In 2019, there were 1,018 developable acres in Sarasota County for major employment centers, according to the EDC. In 2025, about 285 acres remained, the EDC found, including 100 acres available for development. That's a drop of 90.2%.
There is a need for both near-term and long-term supply of land and sites, according to the EDC's Ewen, since some clients may need to move within nine months.
“It’s really about timing,” Ewen says. “If we don’t have that appropriate site for them meeting their exact criteria, they’ll move on.”
To increase the potential for business park development in Sarasota County, the EDC made several proposed amendments to the zoning code, ranging from adjusting acreage to modifying building height requirements.
The proposals were discussed by county commissioners at their June 2 meeting, where they ultimately called upon the EDC to conduct further outreach with the community before returning with potential revisions.
Changes the EDC proposed for the business park zone district include:
County planning and development staff did not recommend moving forward with the changes to acreage and building height, and commissioners echoed their concerns.
“Going down to 2 [acres] does not seem prudent, in my humble opinion,” Commissioner Joe Neunder said. “I think going up to 65 [feet in height] is not something I'd be looking at anytime in the near future…At the end of the day, you know, this really comes down to being respectful.”
Commissioner Teresa Mast encouraged the EDC to conduct public outreach to ensure the office parks and any modifications to the zoning would be welcomed by the surrounding communities.
“About 65% of our revenue comes from residents, not businesses,” Mast said. The “ultimate goal is that we want businesses to be successful. We want the communities that live around them to embrace them and welcome them…If we are methodical in our process, take the time to do the public outreach, take the time to really work within the community…[then] you have a much better plan.”
Eight times during their discussion about the proposed amendments to the business park zone district, commissioners mentioned “unintended consequences” that gave them pause, from upsetting neighbors to potentially opening the door to affordable housing projects.
“I'm always very aware of unintended consequences from the spirit of doing what's right and realizing later we can't take it back once we make these changes,” Commissioner Tom Knight said. “There's nothing binding, so…these [properties] can be transitioned into Live Local” development projects.
The Live Local Act is a Florida law that requires local governments to allow affordable housing developers to create multifamily and mixed-use residential projects in areas zoned for commercial, industrial or mixed-use developments.
“I’m all for affordable housing, but that's not the goal here. The goal is jobs,” Commissioner Mark Smith said. “I don't want to make an opportunity for something else to sneak into.”
