Benderson Development plan calls for "adaptive reuse" of Sarasota County headquarters
The first move to redevelop the aging Sarasota County administrative offices in downtown Sarasota has been launched through a filing with the city's Development Review Committee, as the company that purchased the 5.3- acre site moves toward an "adaptive reuse" of the county's long-time headquarters.
Construction crews may not be swarming the property until at least late 2025 as Sarasota County officials build a new county headquarters at 6700 Fruitville Road.
Meanwhile, planning and engineering firm Kimley-Horn has submitted information on behalf of subsidiaries of Benderson Development Co. on growth plan changes that will be needed for its development plan to move forward.
A community workshop will take place sometime later this summer, according to a brief discussion at a recent Development Review Committee meeting.
Benderson bought the downtown property in fall of 2021 for $25 million — $5 million more than any other offer that came in — but leased the property back to Sarasota County for $1 million a year.
Julie Fanning, director of marketing at Benderson Development, said plans call for an adaptive reuse of the county offices, which means the company plans to reuse the existing building when the property is redeveloped.
She said the company is "actively planning" that redevelopment now.
"The adaptive reuse project will transform a functionally obsolete building into a beautiful, first-class mixed-use campus," she said in response to request for comment. "The current fortress-like façade will be replaced with a more modern aesthetic that speaks to the quality of architecture that defines our community."
Fanning said the current plan also calls for the transformation of the parking lot into a "collection of uses which would transition gradually from Downtown Core zoning along Ringling Boulevard to Downtown Edge and ultimately to a scale that speaks to the character of Laurel Park neighborhood along the south boundary."
At the same DRC meeting in June, Philip DiMaria, a Kimley-Horn planner, also submitted an application to amend the city's growth planning map for the Crossings at Siesta Key, more commonly referred to as the Southgate Mall.
Benderson seeks potential for housing at Southgate Mall site
Sarasota created an "Urban Mixed Use" future land use designation for the map last year that was billed by city officials as a way to encourage more affordable, or "attainable," housing development along commercial corridors, as well as to encourage mixed-use redevelopment.
The Southgate Mall, a parcel located east of South Tamiami Trail and north of Bee Ridge Road, was not included in the new Urban Mixed Use future land use map when the city created the designation, but neighboring properties were, according to the proposal submitted by Benderson.
The application goes on to note that the 33-acre property's current zoning does not allow for any residential development, which would go against the proposed reasoning behind the changes the City Commission made to the future land use maps last year.
"We believe that these amendments will reconcile a major discontinuity in the City's blueprint for development, the City Plan, and harmonize the future development pattern of South Tamiami Trail," the application states.
Fanning said there "are no immediate plans for the South Sarasota mall property."
"The application submitted by our partner Kimley-Horn essentially carries forward the city of Sarasota's approved rezoning effort to promote mixed-use development on the City's commercial corridors," she said.
Previous coverage: County agrees to sell Downtown Sarasota administrative headquarters to Benderson
More: What to know about Sarasota County's $75 million plan to create a new administration center
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Still years off, but Benderson has big plans for downtown county HQ
