South Gate Community Center will stay in residents' control

Residents of the South Gate community had to face a decision that many business owners often find themselves in: keep the doors open for the community or sell. 

Members of the South Gate Community Association on Tuesday voted whether to sell the South Gate Community Center and its 4.4 acres to Sarasota County or keep it, despite the burden it puts on the association’s finances. 

And they had a resounding answer: keep the building. 

About 260 people of the approximately 300-member association voted. Of those, 42 were in favor of selling, 27 were opposed to the sale but in favor of continuing conversations with the county and 190 were opposed to the sale outright. 

The center, located at 3145 South Gate Circle, was designed by architect Victor Lundy in 1956 as an example of the post-war modern Sarasota School of Architecture style. The association has operated the property for 65 years and has long used the building for rentals, community events and a neighborhood swimming pool. 

Sarasota County put an offer in on the property as part of its Neighborhood Parkland Acquisition Program. The program, approved by voters in 2005, allows the county  to purchase land with public funds  and transform it into recreational environments to preserve the county’s natural environment and cultural heritage. 

Since 2018, the county has worked with South Gate to identify opportunities for the property, which sits just off Phillippi Creek. 

The offer, which was sent to the association on May 10, was valued at $170,000 in cash for the property. 

However, many residents said the county’s offer was too low. The association in 2018 had the property evaluated and it was assessed at a market value of $1.055 million. 

Director of Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Nicole Rissler acknowledged the offer was below market value, but she said it was necessary. 

“We really needed to make sure we had the right dollars set aside for the significant work the building and the facilities need after the acquisition to bring it up where it needs to be,” Rissler said.

The county agreed to preserve the community center and make improvements to the park including adding a playground, kayak launch, fishing pier and picnic shelters. The improvements have an estimated cost of $500,000. 

Still, residents said the offer was too low, particularly considering the growth in 2021 real estate values across the county. Sarasota’s median price for single-family homes climbed to $407,000 in May, an all time high for the county and an 36.6% increase from May 2020. 

“It’s a laughable offer,” board member Allison Werner said. “It’s laughable that we’re even here having to discuss it to be totally honest.” 

Additionally, if the offer had been approved, the county would have demolished and filled the community pool. In the offer letter, the county notes the pool is in poor condition and would bring too much liability and operating expenses if it were kept. 

However, proponents for the sale say the association is barely making enough money to keep afloat. Just about 10% of the community is signed up for the $75 per year fee, with another 80 paying the $150 a year fee to access the pool. 

It takes somewhere between $4,000 and $5,000 a month to operate the property. To help make up for a lack of membership fees, the community rents the center to the public, but board members say that sometimes isn’t enough. 

The building cost the association about $83,000 to operate in 2020 despite it not being open due to COVID-19. It also was not able to make any revenue due to the pandemic and relied on a loan from a South Gate resident to keep the doors open in 2021. 

Last week, more than 1,100 residents gathered to discuss the future of the center before they had to vote Tuesday. Though most were against selling, some questioned what would happen should an unforeseeable incident, such as a flood or broken air conditioning unit, occur. 

“Everything is fine now, but what if,” vice president Seth Johnson said. “What if something goes wrong? What if a big tree falls down and hits the building? What if the AC suddenly stops working? …. If any one of those things happened, the rental business that was driving the expenses would be in jeopardy.” 

Though Johnson at the meeting said he was unsure which way he was voting, should the community retain the property, it would need about five times the number of current paying members to function smoothly. 

Now that residents have voted to keep the building in the association’s hands, association leaders are hoping to redirect short-term support into a long-term solution.

“We have almost 2,200 homeowners in South Gate,” president Dave Swenson said. “I am not a shy person. I will ask for their money if I have to.” 

However, leaders said should the need arise in the future, the association could approach the county for another sale. It would still be listed under the acquisition program, though the county would need proof of a willing seller before negotiations again began.