The Sarasota City Commission has voted to approve a 145-room hotel and 91 apartments at the former Winn-Dixie site in Midtown Plaza, despite neighbors’ concerns about traffic and pedestrian safety.
The 3-2 vote on Oct. 19, with Vice Mayor Kathy Kelly Ohlrich and Commissioner Jennifer Ahearn-Koch dissenting, overturned the Sarasota Planning Board’s Sept. 9 denial. The project also includes 1,861 square feet of commercial space and a three-story parking garage.
Planner Joel Freedman filed the appeal on Sept. 16, noting that the planning board was “presented with uncontradicted competent and substantial evidence and testimony” and a city zoning staff recommendation of approval.
The plan has faced fierce opposition from neighbors in Arlington Park
who were already unhappy about the construction of multifamily housing at the former Doctors Hospital site on the southwest corner of Bahia Vista Street and Tuttle Avenue.
Residents who spoke at the Oct. 19 appeal hearing voiced concerns about increased traffic from the development and the safety of pedestrians, including students from nearby Sarasota High School.
“All that is being done is putting more traffic and congestion on our small, little 1950s streets,” said Mary Pryce, who lives on Floyd Street, about four houses away from Midtown Plaza.
The city secured a concession from developer Midtown Associates to widen an existing sidewalk along Prospect Street from five feet to six feet.
That concession is in addition to the developer’s plan to grant an easement along East Avenue that will allow that sidewalk to be widened to eight feet.
What is planned for the site?
The proposed mixed-use development would replace a vacant, 45,860-square-foot former Winn-Dixie supermarket.
Midtown Associates principal Gavin Meshad first envisioned redevelopment of the 3.32-acre parcel in 2018.
A total of 23 apartments will be designated as attainable housing for households earning up to 120% of the area median income.
The developer is also donating $450,000 to the city’s affordable housing trust fund.
A height bonus allowed in the Commercial General District permits the apartment building and hotel to each be 65 feet tall.
The proposed Courtyard by Marriott hotel would be along Prospect Street, across from the closed, 99-room Baymont by Wyndham Sarasota.
What does the new development mean for the area?
Midtown Plaza is on the southeast corner of U.S. 41 and Bahia Vista Street.
In the 1930s, the site was occupied by Fred’s Cottages, which was the second motel development in Sarasota County, according to Sarasota History Alive!
In the 1950s, the site was home to a Sears, Roebuck and Co. store and a Food Fair supermarket before being replaced in the 1970s by Midtown Plaza.
Michael’s On East, at 1212 East Ave., is the center’s longest-running occupant.
Restaurateur Michael Klauber, who owns and operates Michael’s On East with Philip Mancini, told the Herald-Tribune earlier this year that he was looking forward to the development.
Both Klauber and Sarasota Memorial Hospital President and CEO David Verinder submitted letters of support for the project.
The former Baymont hotel and an adjacent commercial structure on the south side of Prospect Street are on the market.
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 approves hotel, apartments despite neighbors’ objections
