Majority of board members prefer to keep proposal on hold
This week, Sarasota County Commissioner Teresa Mast tried again to convince her colleagues to authorize staff to advertise an Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) for the county property located at 261 S. Orange Ave., which is the home of Architecture Sarasota.
And once again, the majority of the board members said they wanted to wait. That decision followed news from Commissioner Mark Smith, a long-time Siesta Key architect, during the board’s regular meeting on May 6.
Leaders of Architecture Sarasota have been meeting with representatives of Benderson Development Co., Smith said, so he did not want to “force anybody’s hand, one way or the other,” before those discussions reached a conclusion.
Architecture Sarasota is leasing the Orange Avenue property from the county. The structure in which the nonprofit organization operates is called the Scott Building. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. The lease expires in 2028.
As The Sarasota News Leader has reported, Benderson approached county staff last year to express an interest in the parcel, which is close to the County Administration Center standing at 1660 Ringling Blvd. in downtown Sarasota.
Just before the end of 2021, Benderson bought the Ringling Boulevard site, plus two adjacent parcels used for parking, for $25 million. The county is leasing the space from the company for $1 million a year until the new Administration Center on Fruitville Road has been completed, which staff anticipates by the end of this year.
Benderson did not submit the highest bid for the Ringling Boulevard and Morrill Street parcels after county staff initially advertised them for sale. It ultimately succeeded with the purchase after it raised its offer.
In late March, Matt Osterhoudt, director of the county’s Planning and Development Services Department, discussed with the commissioners the Benderson interest in the 261 S. Orange Ave. property. Osterhoudt pointed out that they could provide direction to staff about the facets of an ITN and that they would be under no obligation to sell the property if they were not satisfied with any of the responses.
During a subsequent board discussion, on April 8, Commissioner Tom Knight talked of having met with representatives of Architecture Sarasota. He had been absent on March 26 when Osterhoudt made the presentation.
Following Knight’s comments on April 8, the commissioners ended up voting 3-2 to hold off on any decision about an ITN for the Orange Avenue site for 18 months. Mast and Commissioner Ron Cutsinger were in the minority.
A growing list of infrastructure needs
During her report to her colleagues as part of their regular meeting on May 6, which was held in Venice, Mast said that she had had an opportunity to go back over the lease between the county and Architecture Sarasota.
Mast added that she believes that if the language in an ITN were “written correctly, we can let [Architecture Sarasota] ride out the contract all the way to 2028 … I did double verify the length of time.”
The reason she wanted to raise the issue again that day, Mast continued, is that if the commissioners agreed to the crafting of the ITN, Architecture Sarasota would have plenty of time to work with whoever won the bid.
Mast then stressed, “My list of infrastructure needs is growing,” referring to her district. She acknowledged that that is the situation in every County Commission district. “And the opportunity to get what I call ‘fair market value’ on that [parcel] before we see any decreases in property value is important to me.”
(National economists have been warning of the potential of a recession.)
Mast then made a motion for the board to let staff proceed with an ITN, “with very specific language that states that [Architecture Sarasota has] the right to ride out their lease in full …”
Commissioner Knight told Mast, “I don’t disagree with you [about the infrastructure needs].” However, he continued, the commissioners needed to be cautious about the value of parcels in downtown Sarasota.
He reminded his colleagues about their April 22 discussion about the potential purchase of the property located at 2100 Main St. in downtown Sarasota for use in a reconfigured Criminal Justice Corridor along Ringling Boulevard, which has been envisioned to include a new jail, providing a 2026 voter referendum on that facility wins approval.
Although the county’s appraisals for the Main Street parcel averaged $3,110,000, the owner’s appraisals averaged $4,870,000.
The difference, Justin Sago, manager of the county’s Real Property Division explained, was related to bonus residential density if a structure were proposed on the site and the developer agreed to provide affordable housing units. That option is provided for in a City of Sarasota ordinance.
Ultimately, the majority of the County Commission declined to purchase the Main Street property.
Before he would be willing to authorize an ITN for the South Orange Avenue parcel, Knight said on May 6, he would prefer a discussion about city property values linked to the affordable housing ordinance. “What is the true value of [the South Orange land],” he asked, “if you go up in the air?”
(The height for the city’s Downtown Core zoning district — in which the Orange Avenue property exists — is 10 stories. However, the city’s Zoning Code allows for taller buildings under various circumstances.)
Perhaps, Knight added, it would be helpful to invite a representative of the City of Sarasota to discuss the city’s affordable housing ordinance with the County Commission.
Nonetheless, Knight told Mast, “I agree with you that our [needs for] infrastructure projects are growing …”
That was when Commissioner Smith informed his colleagues about the talks underway between representatives of Benderson Development and Architecture Sarasota. He believes they will come to a mutual agreement, Smith added.
Mast concurred.
“I guess I don’t want to push this right now,” Smith said, “because I think they’re close …”
Yet, as he had previously, Commissioner Cutsinger joined Mast in calling for his colleagues to allow an ITN to be advertised, with the provision that the Architecture Sarasota lease had to be honored. It makes sense to do that, he said, “because price discovery comes when people make an offer on property. Property’s worth what somebody’s willing to pay for it.”
Nonetheless, Cutsinger added, “I’m glad to hear that there are some negotiations going on.”
Cutsinger seconded Mast’s motion for the ITN.
Then Chair Joe Neunder told his colleagues, “I’d like to still take a little bit more time,” out of respect for Architecture Sarasota.
Perhaps in a month, he continued, it might be a good time to reconsider the ITN. Neunder did point out that the development rights in the city “could be very valuable to us as an organization,” and the commissioners “have to do what’s in the best financial interest of this community and the county.”
When Neunder called for the vote, Mast’s motion failed 2-3.