The Beach Harbor Club welcomes its first baby

On May 6, the Beach Harbor Club welcomed its first baby. The condominium complex was built in 1970 and was a 55-and-older community up until the 1990s. 

There are original owners residing in the same units; condominiums have been passed down to the next generation, but no one can remember another newborn. The complex is abuzz that Blair Marie Sobotka is the first. 

Proud parents David and Brianna Sobotka said word of the new baby spread quickly. They started receiving gifts and now plan ahead when walking to the beach because they’re stopped so often by friendly neighbors wanting to introduce themselves to Blair. 

“Everyone’s really excited that it’s the first baby born here,” David said. "They’re all excited to have a baby here. We’ve felt so much love from the community. It’s been great."

Vanessa Ladzinski, the community association manager, said families live there now and have in the past, but no one has ever given birth to a child while living in the complex. 

Residents are excited to have a new addition. “It’s thrilling to have a new baby, and she’s just so cute,” Ladzinski said. 

Both David and Brianna are first-time parents. Brianna works in commercial real estate for Ian Black Real Estate in downtown Sarasota, and David is a management consultant. He works remotely from their condo and said fatherhood instantly became more important than his career. 

“I think my priorities have changed quickly. I no longer am trying to work 80-hour weeks. I want to go into dad-mode and be able to come out and take care of her when I get out of work,” he said. “At one point in time, I really wanted to climb the corporate ladder, be CEO, run the world, but that’s changed. I no longer need that.” 

Asked about his Father’s Day plans, David joked that it was too far out to say because they’re just trying to get through the next five hours after so many sleepless nights. They want to take Blair on her first boat ride, even if they only anchor 10 feet away from the dock. David is already dreaming of the day she hooks her first snook. 

The couple met in New York and planned to marry at the Longboat Key Club, but COVID-19 delayed their plans four times before they gave up and held a small ceremony in New York City. They were ready to start a family.

The pair can already finish each other’s sentences. After David said, “We escaped in March 2020 with a carry-on suitcase,” they happily said in unison, “And we never looked back!” 

At the time, New York had begun closing the bridges and tunnels in and out of Manhattan due to COVID-19, and it was still unclear what would come next. The 10-day getaway they planned to Brianna’s parents’ condo turned into a permanent move. Last June, they bought a fourth-floor, bayfront unit at the Beach Harbor Club for themselves.

Brianna started visiting Longboat Key when she was only 2 months old. Her memories of the island include family vacations at the Colony Beach and Tennis Resort over Easter breaks and attending summer camp at Bayfront Park. 

Because of those early camp days, this is not her first appearance in this newspaper. She remembers the Observer printing several articles about the camp back then.

“When we were kids, there were way more kids on Longboat,” she said. “Bayfront Park would have Easter egg hunts every Easter, and there were probably hundreds of kids running around, so it’s changed. But I think it’s changing back in a more positive way right now.”

Brianna’s grandparents became snowbirds and bought a condo in the Beach Harbor Club in 1989. Now her parents own that unit. “It’s just been a kind of special home away from home my entire life,” she said.

One of the first trips David and Brianna took together was to Longboat Key. David fell in love with the island the same way his wife had years before. Both share a love for swimming, boating, scuba diving and fishing. 

They call their move a permanent vacation and hope Blair will come to love the water as much as they do. Either way, the couple couldn’t be happier in their new home with their new baby. 

“It’s the best gift I’ve ever been given. It’s the best job or responsibility I’ve ever had, and she makes it easy. She’s adorable and perfect and a little peanut,” the new dad gushed.