Top Story - January: Vue Sarasota Bay facing delay

One of downtown Sarasota’s most significant commercial real estate projects faced a labor-induced delay in January that has pushed back completion by months. 

Vue Sarasota Bay owners had initially been told they would be able to take possession of the project’s 144 upscale condo units in the first three months of 2017.

The $200 million project also contains a 255-room Westin Hotel. While the hotel opened to the public this summer, the Vue Sarasota Bay was still under construction at the end of 2017.

Developer The Kolter Group has acknowledged, in a letter to condo buyers, that its inability to secure qualified labor caused a delay in the 18-story tower’s completion to the end of the second quarter of this year.

“We’ve really only been able to get 60% to 70% of the manpower we need on the job,” said Bob Vail, president of Kolter’s urban division. “When you’re doing a 10-story or 20-story project, there are different subcontractors that need to be used for the more sophisticated projects. And with all the activity in Sarasota now, that pie is being carved up. We felt we had an obligation, and as a courtesy, to tell our buyers.”

To speed construction up, Vail said Kolter instituted overtime for its workers, brought in additional subcontractors and begun working six days per week.

“We’re trying to find a solution to the problem,” Vail said in January. “We’ve not just giving up, and we intend to apply even more resources there as we get further into 2017.”