Sarasota commissioners reject deal to buy Main Street lot for justice center

Sarasota County commissioners on Tuesday afternoon generally supported — but not widely enough to approve — the purchase of six-tenths of an acre in downtown Sarasota in support of the county’s Correctional Campus Master Planning project.

Needing four of five commissioners to vote in favor of spending $4.87 million for the land at 2100 Main St., Commissioners Tom Knight and Joe Neunder voted against the proposal.

Selling price — or more specifically, the gulf between county and land-owner appraisals — was a key driver of the dissent. Knight also voiced concerns over a planned fall 2026 referendum on the overall project and county options for the land if voters rejected the measure.

Another piece of land, owned by the city in the form of a parking lot on the south side of Ringling Boulevard just east of the Silvertooth Justice Center, now takes on a larger role in the jail-expansion project.

County Administrator Jonathan Lewis said the county has had "initial" conversations with the city about that land which could also serve the county’s needs. However, no one has publicized prices, and further negotiations haven't occurred. Neunder said he hasn’t heard anything about the city-land option since being raised during a county meeting in February.

“It would be, in my humble opinion, just prudent to pump the brakes a little bit,’’ Neunder said. “I think that if the city of Sarasota stuff doesn’t work ... I do think the owners would hopefully respect our ability to just pause and pump the brakes a bit for the public good.’’

As written, and rejected on Tuesday, the original sales contract includes a Friday deadline.

County appraisals of the land, which now houses a church, averaged about $3.1 million, and owner-commissioned appraisals averaged about $4.8 million. Commissioners were told Tuesday the owner appraisals included consideration of city-allowed affordable-housing bonuses in the downtown-core zoning district. County appraisals did not.

The land plays a key role in county jail expansion plans to relieve overcrowding. In a phased sequence of events, the intention is for the new land to be a home for a new Criminal Justice Center. Plans call for the existing justice center in the 2000 block of Ringling Boulevard be demolished and additional jail space built in its former footprint. That space is intended to provide sufficient capacity to last into the 2040s after the new space opens in the 2030s.

Jen Edwards

Previous consideration of acreage at Main Street and Washington Boulevard, also a parking lot, was rejected earlier this year. All three lots surround the current jail building and a variety of other criminal justice facilities on the east end of Sarasota’s downtown.

Commissioner Ron Cutsinger urged support of the 2100 Main St. deal, acknowledging the price was probably higher than ideal. They purchased that land in late 2022 for $2.57 million. The listing was at $5.8 million and owned by an out-of-state limited liability corporation.

“They’re not going to make any more downtown next to where we need it,’’ he said. “And I’ve had to buy some property that I paid too much for because it was worth it to me. And this is where my struggle is right now. OK, I don’t want to lose this purchase right now, because it’s right where we need it and it’s just what we need.’’