One Park Sarasota relaunches sales effort in The Quay for 18-story downtown project
Developers of One Park Sarasota have released updated renderings and details about their downtown high-rise project after losing a legal fight over air rights at The Quay late last year.
National real estate firm Property Markets Group and Sarasota-based MoneyShow first proposed One Park Sarasota in December 2021 as a luxury tower in The Quay that would build part of the building over a spine road in the waterfront development.
However, the project faced opposition from residents in a developed block in The Quay to the original One Park plan since it would create what opponents dubbed a tunnel on a prominent road. The developers argued it was a "breezeway," which ultimately resulted in a legal determination from a Sarasota judge that prevented One Park Sarasota from building over the road to connect the two parcels through a single structure.
The idea required One Park to acquire the "air rights" above the road for the building. But Circuit Judge Hunter Carroll ruled that documents from 2018 required The Quay's master developer to deed common areas, including the air rights above the land, to the owners within the development.
The revised plans will call for two buildings on about two acres of property owned by the developers. Just one of the building plans have been released so far. Plans call for that building to have 86 residences in an 18-story tower loaded with luxury amenities.
A starting price was not immediately available, although the previous project had buyers for about 60% of the planned 123 units.
The developers plan to keep the name and it's reference to the 53-acre city park being developed by The Bay Park Conservancy on Sarasota Bay.
"The new building on Lot 1 almost exclusively overlooks the park," said Dan Kaplan, PMG managing partner. "It's more One Park now than it was."
Kaplan said plans for the other property owned by the development group should come out in about three months.
Kaplan sounded optimistic about the project's future in a phone interview, noting contingency designs that had already been in the works before last year's legal decision went against the developers.
"We were prepared to pivot quickly," he said. "And we did."
He said that response from the buyers who had stuck with One Park through the legal dispute was "pretty good" and he estimated about 40% of the project is already sold to previous buyers.
"We're incredibly excited," he said. "Obviously we will not be building over the road, but we will be constructing an iconic building that will help shape Sarasota's skyline for years to come."
Kaplan did not seem worried about the delays caused by the legal fight, noting he was pleased with the construction timeframe and the targeted completion.
The delays likely mean One Park Sarasota will be the last project finished in The Quay, meaning buyers will not face the sight of tower cranes or sounds of construction in the development, something Kaplan said could be the silver lining in the whole ordeal for potential buyers.
"When we sell our units, folks that move into our building won't have to worry about any ongoing construction," he said.
Chelsa Vahtomin and Robert Robinson with Coldwell Banker Realty are the exclusive sales representatives for the project. The first building will also have 5,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor.
The project was delayed last year by an investigation into whether there was improper influence at City Hall in connection with the development. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement closed the investigation without any charges.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: One Park Sarasota relaunches sales for new two-building Quay plan
