Wednesday, June 21, 2006

 
PARTY AT RIVO ON RINGLING TOMMORROW!
Got the announcement that there is an agent/broker party over at the hot downtown Sarasota Rivo on Ringling new construction project! As you know, I went over to the broker tour at Kanaya a few weeks ago and reported all about it. I will absolutely do the same for Rivo tomorrow. I am starting to go crazy with the direct upload Audio Blog feature here so I will most probably call in a report while standing on the roof gazing at the Sarasota bay views! I love these tours as it really gives you a look at how the building is put together - in its raw stage. Rivo on Ringling is a project I have been watching progress from the ground-breaking and it really is spectacular.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

 
SARASOTA/BRADENTON DOWNTOWNS SET TO BOOM
Wow! Downtown Sarasota is headed for another growth spurt, this one promising to transform the city more drastically than the last.


Recent approval of a $200 million mixed-use project straddling Main Street between Lemon and Pineapple avenues will add new shops, restaurants, condominiums and parking to an area already bustling with activity. Called Pineapple Square, the project scheduled for buildout over four years will add critical mass to several new condo and loft projects sprinkled around its edges and bring new retail outlets with the potential to draw plenty of non-residents. With 276 new residential units plus some 30 to 40 retail shops, it should be an asset to the new commercial district centered around the Whole Foods store nearby on First Street.

Purists doubtless will mourn the loss of their charming old one- and two-story Main Street that was classic small-town America. You know, the one with all the empty storefronts, the T-shirt and pawn shops, the sleazy bars and struggling lunch spots, where the sidewalks were rolled up at 5 p.m. after the bank and government office workers headed home.

Sarasota, always a culturally active town with its thriving arts organizations, is becoming a dynamic downtown, with a variety of nighttime entertainment choices within walking distance. Why would anyone want to trade that dynamism for the sleepy, run-down core that existed just a few years ago? And this is just the first of three massive new developments planned in the downtown area. Just to the south of Pineapple Square, Benderson Development plans a $150 million project including a 161-room hotel, 168 residences and 1,000 parking spaces. And over on the bayfront an Irish consortium has announced plans for a staggering $1 billion project to replace the existing Sarasota Quay at U.S. 41 and Fruitville called Sarasota Bayside. This project, still in the planning stages, envisions four 18-story condo towers and 140,000 square feet of retail space.

Meanwhile, Bradenton is about to undergo its own transformation. Based on projects already announced or under way, we believe Bradenton's new look in a few years will be as dramatic as Sarasota's, though certainly not as expansive. The condominiums going up at the Promenade at Riverwalk project on the Sandpile are just the first evidence of what is to come in the next decade. The revitalization of 14th Street and Ninth Street soon will begin, which will accelerate revival in the Village of the Arts just south of downtown. To the east, new residential and commercial projects in Old Manatee will cause "downtown" to spill across U.S. 41 as high- and mid-rises blend with the medical district already emerging around Manatee Memorial Hospital. It may take a few years to acquire the critical mass that Sarasota already enjoys, but the coming retirement of the Baby Boom generation virtually assures a steady market for this growth.

Yes, change of this magnitude can be jolting. We're hearing complaints about the coming transformation of downtown Bradenton with the process barely begun. But the areas undergoing redevelopment have stagnated for decades. The new construction that's coming will lift all of the surrounding neighborhoods out of the decay into which they've fallen. Remember, areas like 14th Street, Old Manatee and downtown Bradenton were once-thriving business districts, bustling with shoppers and visitors.

The challenge is to preserve as much of the character of the old while revitalizing with new, mixed-use projects that appeal to a cross-section of people. Planners in both Bradenton and Sarasota are striving to retain that small-town feeling even as the cities return to life with ambitious new developments.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

 
LOOKOUT DOWNTOWN SARASOTA - THE VIEW IS ABOUT TO GET EVEN BETTER!
For those of you who are considering the Renaissance, Broadway Promenade or one of the other fantastic downtown sarasota condo projects around Van Wezel Performing Arts Center and the Bayfront there may be a lot of improvement outside your windows. As if the view wasn't spectacular enough its about to get much better. The Sarasota Quay developers are gearing up for their $1 Billion Sarasota Bayside project and has proposed $40 million in streets, streetlights, landscaping and sewers for that that Cultural District. I'll keep you updated.

Friday, June 02, 2006

 
UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER IS COMING DOWN
Those of you who live here in downtown Sarasota know what I'm talking about. The large downtown statue on Gulfstream Ave with the WWll kiss is coming down, piece by piece (May 31st). I personally loved this statue as did my wife and many others. The great thing is that this statue will be back in town within a year. Marina Jack park will be the new home for this great statue after it spends some time in NJ with its creator, Seward Johnson. To see a video of its dismantling go to www.heraldtribune.com

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