Sarasota County’s new $100 million administration center hosted its first County Commission meeting Tuesday, Aug. 25, after a brief ceremony and ribbon-cutting.
The new 121,160-square-foot facility is at 1 Apex Road in Fruitville Farms, a fast-growing area east of Interstate 75 off Fruitville Road.
Sarasota County Commission Chairman Ron Cutsinger joked that the new facility would be an easier drive for him than the former administration complex on Ringling Boulevard in downtown Sarasota.
Longtime Sarasota County residents may not be familiar with the new address, which is south of Fruitville Commons and north of a new Publix, but they may recall that the decision to move the county seat out of Sarasota was once the vision of the late William Muirhead.
Muirhead, who served on the county commission from 1972 to 1977 and was its chair in 1976, hoped to relocate county administration farther south, but that never occurred.
Why did the Sarasota County Administration Center move?
Sarasota County Administrator Jonathan Lewis and Cutsinger touted the economics of the decision.
Sarasota County bought its old home at 1660 Ringling Boulevard in December 1993 from General Telephone Co., which built the six-story facility in 1973.
County officials conducted a site feasibility study in 2009 and a retrofit analysis on the former GTE building in 2015.
In 2019, the commission decided that instead of pouring $50 million into the former facility at 1660 Ringling Boulevard, it was more economical to build the new structure that is projected to last at least 75 years.
In 2021, it sold the Ringling Boulevard site to Benderson Development Co. for $25 million with a four-year lease-back agreement for $1 million a year.
Ground was broken at 1 Apex Road in 2023, a year after 78% of Sarasota County voters approved a one-cent sales tax extension that included it among the future projects.
Storm damage during the 2024 hurricane season forced county government out of 1660 Ringling Boulevard, with both the county commission and planning commission meeting exclusively at the Robert L. Anderson Administration Center until Aug. 25.
What’s happening with the old center?
Benderson plans to give the old building a faceliftand possibly add four more floors to what will be marketed as Class A office space.
How was the $100.15 million price tag raised?
The sale to Benderson brought in $25 million and the voter-approved surtax accounted for another $22.7 million.
Another $9 million came from general government impact fees on new construction but the lion’s share of the cost — $43.45 million — came from general revenues.
What’s unique about the new building?
The new, 121,160-square-foot building has 340 parking spaces, a covered walkway made with solar panels and is anticipated to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification.
According to a Sarasota County-provided fact sheet, LEED-certified buildings typically use 25% less energy and 11% less water.
The most striking aspect of the new building may be its view to the south of the Celery Fields and Observation Hill, a known birding paradise and home to the Sarasota Audubon Nature Center.
In homage to that birding spot, photographs of a variety of birds adorn the walls inside the building.
Earle Kimel primarily covers local governments in Sarasota County as well as land development and environmental issues for the Herald-Tribune. Follow him on Facebook, and X. He can be reached by email at earle.kimel@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota County opens its new $100 million administration center
