Sarasota Magazine, Kim Doleatto
What’s Going on at the Corner of Fourth and Cocoanut?
The downtown Sarasota condo boom is still booming, and the Rosemary District continues to rise. A 2014 overlay that increased density in the flourishing neighborhood just north of downtown Sarasota kickstarted the area with loads of new construction. Now, single-family homes and vacant lots are mostly blanketed in condos, restaurants and shops. But especially condos.
THE GALLERY SARASOTA
The Gallery Sarasota, a new collection of 60 condos spanning five levels with a sixth-floor rooftop, is coming to the now-cleared corner of Fourth Street and Cocoanut Avenue, just south of the Sarasota Modern Hotel, north of Fruitville Road and a few blocks from the bayfront. The land was purchased from Tso Sara Reopp LP for $3,754,100 in June of this year, and the look of the new project is in line with others that have recently popped up in the neighborhood, like Zahrada II (designed by the same architectural firm) on the same street.
Spanning just less than one acre in total, the ground level of The Gallery will also include just under 2,000 square feet of retail space. What will occupy that is still up in the air, but the units—now for sale with some contracts already underway— are not.
“We continue to have lots of people moving to Sarasota—2021 was crazy, but people are still thinking about how they want to live. We’re not going see that revert to pre-Covid days,” says Teresa Tyrrell of Coldwell Banker Realty, who is handling sales.
Sure, the local market has taken a breath after a sprint of post-pandemic panic buying, but what’s built new and up to current safety codes, with a great location is still in demand.
PRICE
Price, of course, also matters. Eighty percent of all condo and townhome sales in the past 12 months in the same zipcode as The Gallery Sarasota have sold for less than $2 million, according to MLS data.
“It’s been very active with interested buyers. They’ve been waiting for a luxe property for under a million dollars that’s still so close to it all,” Tyrrell adds. “There are a lot of local older condos that are being hit with assessment fees and increased insurance rates, making some want to move away from that and buy new.”
SIZE
Units at The Gallery range from 944 square feet with one bedroom and one-and-a-half bathrooms to 1,841 square feet with three bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms. Prices range from $795,000 for condos to $1,995,000 for the penthouses. Terraces for each unit range from 38 square feet to 356 square feet.
The sixth-floor rooftop is where residents will find the amenities—including a 20-foot by 36-foot pool and social lounge with views of Sarasota Bay and the downtown skyline. The Gallery will also have more than 2,000 square feet dedicated to a fitness center and yoga studio.
Empty lots across the street on the west of side of Cocoanut Avenue are zoned for up to 10 stories—but no plans for those are on the table yet.
That is what’s Going on at the corner of Fourth and Cocoanut.