Developer goes all-in on restoring Mira Mar

Inside space formerly leased by a hair salon at the north end of the Mira Mar building in downtown Sarasota, a steel column braces the partially collapsed ceiling that recently came crashing down. Fortunately, no employees or customers were in the salon at the time.

Meanwhile, next to an outside wall, several more of the red poles hold the second floor in place .

In addition to physically supporting the structure, they metaphorically shore up the point the leadership of Seaward Development has been attempting to make for nearly three years: the 100-year-old Mira Mar must be rebuilt — quite literally from the ground up and from the inside out — or be taken down.

Other than maintaining it as is while it gradually deteriorates, there is no in-between.

One year after being denied a demolition permit by the Sarasota Historic Preservation Board, Seaward purchased the property from prominent developer Mark Kauffman for $17 million in May 2023 with a new plan: recruit the foremost historic restoration expert in Florida in Rick Gonzalez to restore the Mira Mar to its original form and Igor Reyes, an architect with expertise in companion new construction, to provide the capital to pay for it.

Photo by Andrew Warfield

Because of multiple additions to the building, mostly in the 1980s, the Mira Mar is not a historic structure in its current state, but identifies as a contributing structure to the Downtown Historic District, providing it limited protection from demolition. 

Now two years and an investment of more than $4 million later, Seaward is approaching a crossroads that will determine whether it can save the Mira Mar and build two 18-story condo towers behind it, or if it will instead pursue razing the building and build a 10-story apartment building covering the entire block.

To save it, Seaward must first secure an amendment to the city’s Comprehensive Plan to rezone the site from Downtown Core to Downtown Bayfront — which will allow it to build 18 stories to provide a view premium to pay for the restoration — and then approval of the rezoning itself.

The Planning Board continued a March 12 hearing to April 9; this hearing sought a recommendation to the City Commission. Once the Mira Mar does make it before the commission, it will need at least four votes to first approve transmittal of the Comprehensive Plan amendment to Tallahassee for review, and then another supermajority to amend the plan. The rezoning that would follow requires only a simple majority for approval.

All that is to say the process is a long way from completion. Meanwhile, Seaward Principal Patrick DiPinto and President Matthew Leake are doing their best to hold together the wooden structure of nearly 400 feet in length built in along Palm Avenue in 60 days over a foundation of beach sand.

"Because the wood structure is so rotten and there's no foundations, there are no pilings, there are no footings, there's not only nothing to attach it to," DiPinto said. "We can't stop the water. We can't stop the termite infestation. It's either a full remodel or this building has just met its life expectancy."

That appears to be a race against time as crack measuring gauges show the building continuing to separate in multiple locations, wooden beams and studs are deteriorating, water damage is unstoppable and no roof repair because, as structural engineers have advised, the building cannot support the weight of new materials required.

Photo by Andrew Warfield

With no pilings supporting the Mira Mar, DiPinto and Leake told the Observer during a recent tour of the building, restoring it will require removing and replacing the entire foundation and rebuilding all the walls.

The cost is estimated at about $30 million — at best, an educated guess.

“Sometimes it scares the heck out of me because it's such a massive undertaking,” DiPinto said. “We're up for it. We've got a great team. We've got great financial partners that are supporting us and our endeavors.”

What is certain, they said, is the Mira Mar needs a feasible revenue source to restore it. DiPinto said they were told by an appraiser with expertise in the field that an investment in a restoration that would rely on rent to cover the capital is not financially feasible. Approximately 55 years, they were told, is when it would break even.

“She took a look at these numbers and said it's the most financially unfeasible project she’s ever seen,” DiPinto said. Lack of feasibility is a key factor in securing a demolition permit.

Photo by Michael Harris

But that, DiPinto and Leake said, is the last resort. They’re all in on restoring the Mira Mar — not just the façade, as with the Demarcay next door — but the entire structure.

“The structural engineers say tear it down. That's the easy route,” DiPinto said. “Instead, I’ve spent three years trying to do the right thing for the city.”

And now, DiPinto and Leake say, it’s in the hands of the city to determine what the right thing is. 

“We feel confident that we've done everything, that we've given the best effort to show how it could be feasible, how to make it work,” Leake said. “The city has the opportunity to agree with that or not. Whether it’s us or a future developer, the feasibility doesn't change.”