- September 17, 2024
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After 18 years of planning and roadblocks, the ever-evolving attainable housing project known as Sarasota Station is moving toward reality thanks to the sale of a portion of the site to a luxury townhome developer.
S.S. Sasquatch LLC, which is owned by Sarasota-based affordable housing developer and operator One Stop Housing, is partnering with Blumark Miller to bring 202 workforce housing units and 72 single-family townhomes to a 7.9-acre site one block north of Fruitville Road, taking advantage of the state’s Live Local Act for additional density.
On Sept. 4, the project had its first appearance before the city’s Development Review Committee, the unique nature of which brought a lengthy list of staff comments to be addressed prior to sign-off.
The project is seeking administrative site plan approval with required Planning Board adjustments to the minimum lot size regulation, the 20-foot habitable space requirement along the primary street grid, and parking for Phases 1 and 2, which will comprise workforce housing apartments
For the Phase 3 townhomes, an administrative adjustment request is being submitted to reduce the minimum required habitable space on a primary street by less than 25% and a Planning Board adjustment will be needed to vacate an unimproved alley and utility easement. The workforce apartments will be developed independently of the townhomes phase.
The Bob’s Train diner would need to be relocated elsewhere on the site.
Sarasota Station will be built on property owned by One Stop Housing, which is located to the north of Third Street, to the west of the SCL Railroad tracks, to the east of Audubon Place and to the South of Seventh Street. Its zoning is Industrial Light Warehousing and Downtown Edge with all parcels having a future land use designation of Downtown Core.
“We sold the approximately 3.5 acres to the east of the property to a market rate developer who is working with the city under the Live Local act, using our affordability to help move both these projects forward,” One Stop Housing Managing Partner Mark Vengroff said. “We have filed both the townhome development and the workforce apartments under one site utilizing Live Local to help expedite the process.”
Vengroff’s late father and One Stop Housing founder, Harvey Vengroff, first envisioned Sarasota Station in 2006.
“I’m very excited to finally be able to get this project off the ground and finish what my father started,” Vengroff said.
The Florida Live Local Act requires a municipality to authorize multifamily and mixed-use residential as allowable uses in any area zoned for commercial, industrial or mixed-use providing that at least 40% of the residential units are rental apartments that are priced as affordable for a period of no less than 30 years.
Independent of the townhomes, Sarasota Station will provide:
Amenities include a clubhouse, basketball court, dog park, business center, community center and Legacy Trail connector in addition to Bob’s Train, which operates in a historic Ringling circus train.
The project does have obstacles to overcome beyond a long list of technical staff comments. The most significant is whether the project meets the provisions of the Live Local Act, which supersedes municipal zoning code to permit development up to the highest currently allowed height and density allowed within one mile of the project site.
Phases 1 and 2 will include two six-story buildings where up to 18 could be permitted under Live Local, and a density of 35 units per acre, well below the 50-unit density allowed by state statute within that one-mile radius.
Although those particulars check all the boxes, “Staff has concerns with the utilization of the Live Local Act and further comments shall be provided,” Acting Chief Planner Noah Fossick said. “A rezoning and plan amendment application may be filed for the site if the provisions of the Live Local Act are not utilized.”
Attorney Bill Merrill, representing the developer, expressed confusion over that comment because, he said, in prior meetings it was discussed that the Live Local Act is being employed for the affordable housing because the site otherwise doesn’t permit residential use without a rezoning. The plan was to avoid rezoning while taking advantage of the added density.
“The current concern, and we'll have more details soon, actually relate to the language of the code specific to multifamily and mixed-use residential,” Fossick said. “Elements, of this project might not necessarily fit within those definitions — multifamily or mixed-use residential — and so there are concerns around that.”
Merrill asked when he may be advised of that outcome, to which Fossick replied, “It's currently being discussed by people higher than me, so hopefully we'll have guidance as soon as possible.”
Fossick and Merrill agreed to schedule a meeting to further discuss that complication.
