Sarasota Yacht Club plans its expansion

It’s been nearly seven years since the Sarasota Yacht Club launched plans for a complete upgrade of its marina, the last six of which have been spent waiting for permit approvals from city, state and national agencies.

Finally, the end of waiting is within SYC’s sightline. 

“At this point, our consultants are telling us we have crossed off everything on the checklist and that we should have final permits within the next four to five months,” says SYC Commodore Harry Anand. 

Once permits are in hand, the next step is to send out bids for a plan that’s designed to make this world-class facility “an even more phenomenal marina,” says Anand.

Those plans, first drawn up in 2016, call for expanding the size and increasing the number of slips on the club’s existing three docks and gaining the use of a fourth dock from SYC’s neighbor to the west, Plymouth Harbor. In addition, all the dockage, except for 10 boat slips held for Plymouth Harbor’s use, will be upgraded from fixed to floating. As a result, the total number of SYC slips will increase from 108 to 120, and total dockage will expand by 8,000 square feet to 33,000 square feet. The existing seawall will also be completely replaced.

Photo by Emily Leinfuss

While SYC won’t know the final cost of the project until it requests new construction bids, Anand revealed that “the last bids we received [in 2023] were around $19 million for all four docks.” That cost “was significantly more than what was estimated when permits were first sent out for approval six years ago,” he says. “The pandemic added to some of the delays. There was a period of almost two and half years when these agencies were really backed up.” Anand adds that the pandemic also significantly impacted construction and materials costs. 

Both Sarasota city and county governments, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the Department of Environmental Protections (DEP), and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are the permitting agencies the club is working with. “You can’t apply for the permits all at the same time. We have some and are waiting for finals from DEP and the U.S. Army Corps,” says Anand. 

Design tweaks may also be needed before new bids go out. As an example, Anand says that, in the current design, an area designated for boat lifts and small watercrafts may be too close to the side of the SYC clubhouse. “Some of our members have expressed that it may block the view from the clubhouse.”

Source: Turrell, Hall & Associates Inc.

According to Anand, the marina expansion is only the first phase of Sarasota Yacht Club’s future expansion.

A second phase calls for developing and upgrading the SYC campus and clubhouse. 

“We just completed the outline of a master plan developed by Mark Sultana of Sarasota’s DSDG Architects and presented it to the board of directors,” says Anand. He explains that a major aspect of this phase is the construction of a multistory building on the south side of the campus where the Sailing Center, which essentially serves as a storage facility for smaller crafts and boating gear, is now. The new building will provide increased parking on the ground floor and “a rooftop facility overlooking Sarasota Bay for parties and private member events,” says Anand. It will also, potentially, house a bigger fitness center, additional dining facilities or a revamped version of one of SYC’s existing restaurants, as well as other services and amenities.

Anand says that a third phase could involve acquiring or expanding beyond the current campus, with possibilities including gaining beachfront access or establishing a second clubhouse in downtown Sarasota. “That’s always been something we’ve long sought, based on our members’ wish lists,” says Anand. “We don’t have anything definite to share, but we are always interested in evaluating and looking at the possibilities.”