First of three waterfront restaurants planned to be completed in 2026
Unless one or more philanthropists steps up, a signature feature of downtown Sarasota’s Bay Park likely will never be constructed: the Sunset Pier.
That was part of an update that AG Lafley, founding CEO of the Bay Park Conservancy —which manages the park and raises private funding for it — reported to the members of the Bay Park Improvement Board in late March.
The board members are Sarasota County Commissioners Mark Smith and Ron Cutsinger; Sarasota Mayor Liz Alpert and Vice Mayor Debbie Trice; and Jon Thaxton, director of policy and advocacy for the Gulf Coast Community Foundation, which is based in Venice. The local government leaders are appointed by their colleagues to keep abreast of planning for the park and proposals for new construction. A former county commissioner, Thaxton long has been engaged in the efforts to transform the city’s 53 acres of waterfront property into a regional destination.
During his remarks about the status of Phase 2 of the park’s construction, Lafley on March 25 referenced Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot, saying that, finally, “Godot showed up.”
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) “sent us a proffered permit in the middle of January,” which contained “something like 75 pages,” Lafley told the board members. “They asked us to give up everything but the fishing pier. They wanted to convert [the Sunset Pier] exclusively into a fishing pier.”
Moreover, he explained, the fishing pier would have to be constructed “in the footprint between the seagrass, between the coral,” avoiding all the natural resources in Sarasota Bay.
Because of the restrictions, Lafley pointed out, the cost of construction has grown from a range of $15 million to $17 million “to above $35 million.”
Furthermore, Lafley said, “The operating costs are significant because we have to do monthly reporting of fish catches, turtle ensnarement — you know, etc., etc., etc.”
The original design, he pointed out, called for a walkway over Sarasota Bay. “You could paddle up to [the Sunset Pier]; you could boat up to it … and fish off of it.”
The USACE regulations mean the length of the structure would be less than half of what initially was proposed, he said.
Nonetheless, he continued, “We conditionally signed the permit, so we have the option to move ahead with that pier anytime in the next five years, and we can extend that timing.”
The Bay Park Conservancy recommends that the Bay Park Improvement Board not “spend another dollar on it now,” Lafley told the board members. Instead, the Conservancy leaders believe funds that would have gone toward the Sunset Pier should be allocated to amenities that “are a lot more meaningful for the guests and for the community.”
A northern fishing pier already has been incorporated into the design.
Earlier, Lafley told the board members that, years ago, the initial estimates of the full cost of construction of The Bay Park were in the range of $100 million to $150 million; inflation and other factors have increased the number to “well above” $200 million.
He did note that the Conservancy has raised more than $50 million over the past six years “from private sources, and everything we’ve funded has been with cash.”
After Lafley completed his presentation, Thaxton of the Gulf Coast Community Foundation acknowledged that the question he was going to ask “might be the obvious: Have you thought about modifying and shortening the [Sunset] Pier?”
Lafley laughed.
“It’s a great question,” Lafley said, “and it’s multi-faceted. There were two objectives [with the original design]. One was to allow people to get out over the water.” The second, he continued, was to “maximize the views from the site.”
Regarding the latter, he added, the Conservancy leaders have begun looking at options, “and there a ton of opportunities that we will leverage.”
He also noted that he and Jennifer Compton, an attorney and managing partner with the Sarasota office of Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, who is the Conservancy chair, had discussed the fact that if a person “came in and wrote us a check for $35 million, we’d be having a different conversation about the pier.”
Lafley was quick to add, “I’m not saying that facetiously. … If somebody said, ‘You know, I want to do this,’ or [someone] even gave us half of [the necessary funds] … we’d think about it a different way.”
Lafley did tell Thaxton that the Conservancy team could shorten the pier. However, he said, “I don’t want to spend any more design time on it until we finish Phase 2 [of the park], if that’s OK.”
Thaxton told him he had not wanted his comments to be considered a recommendation.
Accelerating plans for the first restaurant
Early on, the Conservancy plans for the Canal District — which encompasses the 10th Street Boat Canal — called for restaurants to be constructed, with a portion of the revenue from each to be dedicated to an operating fund for the park.
The Conservancy is recommending at this point that, instead of a pop-up food and beverage village, which was shown to the City and County commissions last year as a Canal District feature, the Conservancy proceed with building the first of the three restaurants, Lafley told the board members. The goal is to have that completed in 2026, he noted.
Enough concept work has been undertaken, Lafley said, to give the Conservancy leaders confidence that that building could be constructed for $5 million to $6 million. “It will be resilient,” Lafley continued; We can elevate it.”
He also pointed out, “We know from community surveys that waterfront dining is one of the top three community desires [for the park].”
Thaxton asked whether the restaurant would stand south of the 10th Street Boat Canal.
Lafley responded that plans call for it to be located on the site of the Rusty Anchor Stage at The Bay Park. (The address is 1101 10th St.) “It’s an incredible location with incredible views north to south,” Lafley added.
“I’m really excited to see that moving forward,” county Commissioner Cutsinger told Lafley.
When Cutsinger asked Lafley to expand on the remarks he had made about it, Lafley explained, “The objective is an accessible, affordable, excellent waterfront dining experience. … We would like to end up with [a] Sarasota Modern-esque architectural design,” with a flat roof and lots of glass.
The goal is no more than 5,000 square feet under roof, he continued, as that should provide ample seating. He compared that to the size of the Dry Dock Waterfront Grill, which stands at 412 Gulf of Mexico Drive on Longboat Key.
“We’ve looked at every waterfront restaurant from Bradenton and Anna Maria [Island] down to Casey Key,” Lafley said, “and there aren’t enough.”
He then showed the board members slides with the conceptual design from various angles. An outdoor dining area would be included, Lafley noted. “It’s intended to be a super simple design,” Lafley noted.
The plan is to pursue a Request for Proposal process, he said, though with differences from that type of bid advertisement through the City of Sarasota. “We can go for the best overall proposition, best overall value, Lafley explained. “We know a number of the local restaurateurs from Venice to Anna Maria are interested. That’s a good sign.”
Then, referring to a new premium restaurant that has opened in the Quay Sarasota, Lafley said of The Bay Park plan, “We’re not going to be Ocean Prime,” or have its price point. “I hope our quality is 95% of Ocean Prime and our price point is … 50% of Ocean Prime.”
Cutsinger called the proposed site the “perfect location.”
County Commissioner Smith, the current Bay Park Improvement Board chair, told Lafley that the county board members agreed to try to pare the expenses of a new restaurant at Snook Haven by requiring in the Request for Proposals that interested parties help pay for the construction.
“That’s an option,” Lafley agreed, referring to The Bay Park restaurant plans.
“Once we decide on the restaurateur,” Lafley added, “we want this to be a long-term partnership. If the company representatives desired specific features in the design, “say above what we would provide as basic infrastructure,” he continued, then it would not be inappropriate for the company to commit extra funding to the project.
Lafley also talked about the financial side of that initiative.
“A well-run waterfront restaurant in this area can do $8 [million], $12 [million], $14 million a year.” The Conservancy could take what he characterized as “a relatively modest” percentage of the proceeds — 5% to 10%, he pointed out. Since 5% of $10 million would be $500,000, Lafley noted, three restaurants in the park, as planned, could generate $1.5 million a year.
“Our total operating expenses now are $2 million,” Lafley told the board members. “We’ve been operating mostly on contributed donations. We want to get to a place where we’re operating with half of our income coming from restaurant commissions and rental commissions [from facilities on the bayfront] …”
He noted of the renovated Sarasota Garden Club, “Right now, it’s our most popular rental space. … By the way,” he pointed out, “we rent well below market rates, so we’re going to become … very popular.”
The Garden Club building also will be used for Bay Park programming, Lafley said. Repairs to the roof were underway that week he continued, and the gardens will be completely redone in the coming months.
PGT Innovations donated all the windows for the renovation, he added, while CoolToday discounted the heating, air conditioning and ventilation (HVAC) systems.
Further, he told the board members, “The Chidsey Building,” which was the location of the first public library in Sarasota, “will become our operations center and office. That’ll be open in May.
Pedestrian bridge planning continues
Yet another feature that Lafley focused on during his presentation was the plan for a pedestrian bridge over U.S. 41 between the park and the Rosemary District. “It’s the right thing to do for connectivity and accessibility,” he said.
When Sarasota Vice Mayor Trice asked about the timeline for construction of that bridge, Lafley replied, “We’re ready to go when the city is.”
However, he added, he did not believe that the construction would start until after the City Commission has made its decision regarding the proposal for a new Sarasota Performing Arts Center (SPAC) in the park.
During a March 17 discussion with the city commissioners, representatives of the Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation (SPAF) — which is committed to paying for 50% of the expense of the new venue — won agreement that the decision about the venue would be made no later than the first May meeting of the commissioners, which is scheduled for May 5.
Nonetheless, Lafley continued, the proposal the Conservancy is considering calls for the bridge to be constructed around Ninth Street, “because that’s the most logical location,” given the space available and ease of access.
One other facet of the plans that Lafley discussed calls for the potential of more than 500 parking spaces being created in a structure below park amenities, as part of Phase 3.
City staff has approved the Conservancy’s exploration of the feasibility of that, Lafley noted.
“We’re at 20 feet elevation in the middle of the park,” he explained, so “it’s very doable from an elevation standpoint.”
The Conservancy’s construction team has reminded him, he said, that it would be much better to build a parking garage under a portion of the park instead of bringing in a considerable amount of fill to construct a garage.
A slide he showed the board members put the expense of that parking garage in the range of $25 million to $35 million, with the park features above the structure estimated at $20 million to $25 million.