Dwelling unit count up slightly from preliminary figure
On May 2 — almost exactly two months after project team members appeared before the City of Sarasota’s Development Review Committee (DRC) — the formal application for the Adagio mixed-use development was submitted to city staff, The Sarasota News Leader has learned.
The developer — DT Sarasota Development LLC — is seeking administrative site plan approval for the initiative, which is slated to cover four downtown Sarasota parcels: 1360 Ringling Blvd., 301 and 303 S. Palm Ave.; and 330 S. Pineapple Ave., as Joel Freedman of Freedman Consulting and Development in Sarasota, wrote in the letter he submitted with the application.
The limited liability company has purchased all of that property, the formal application says.
Howard Gutman is the manager of DT Sarasota Development LLC, the application notes. As the News Leader has reported, the address of DT Sarasota Development is the same as that of The Lutgert Companies in Naples. Gutman is listed on the firm’s website as its president and CEO.
Records maintained by the staff of Sarasota County Property Appraiser Bill Furst show that the company paid the Church of the Redeemer $15 million for the Ringling Boulevard and South Palm Avenue parcels on Jan. 4 of this year. Months earlier — in July 2024 — the company purchased the Pineapple Avenue property from USG Realty LLC for $11 million, Furst’s website also shows.
The Adagio would be adjacent to the Sansara condominium complex, which stands at 300 S. Pineapple Ave. The Sansara is located at the Ringling Boulevard-Pineapple Avenue intersection.
“Administrative site plan approval” means that the city’s Development Services staff will decide whether to approve the project as designed. In some cases — as seen, for example, in regard to the proposed 1260 N. Palm Residences proposal— if opponents disagree with that staff’s ultimate approval of a new development, an appeal can be filed with the city’s Planning Board, and that body’s decision can be appealed to the City Commission.
Although the Adagio site is zoned Downtown Core, which allows up to 10 stories, Freedman reiterated in his May 2 letter a point that he made during the March 5 DRC meeting: “Please note that we are processing this application using the State of Florida’s ‘Live Local’ regulations. As such, we will be allowed to have building heights up to 18 stories.”
The Live Local Act, Florida Statute 166-04151, says in part, “A municipality must authorize multifamily and mixed-use residential as allowable uses in any area zoned for commercial, industrial, or mixed use if at least 40 percent of the residential units in a proposed multifamily development are rental units that, for a period of at least 30 years, are affordable as defined in [Florida Statute] 420.0004. … For mixed-use residential projects, at least 65 percent of the total square footage must be used for residential purposes.”
Freedman continued in his letter, “Because we are using the Live Local statute,” 40% of the dwelling units will be designated as attainable housing for 30 years. “The proposed development will have a condominium building on the western portion of the site and a building with all the designated attainable rental units on the eastern portion of the site fronting on Pineapple Avenue,” Freedman added.
During the DRC meeting, then-city Chief Planner Noah Fossick informed the project team members that if they planned to use the provisions of the city’s attainable housing ordinance to construct the Adagio, they would have to spread the attainable units throughout the residential buildings. Thus, Freedman said, the team would develop the project in accord with the Live Local Act.
In regard to the proposed height of the Adagio condo tower, a chart in the application refers to Section VI-1005(g)(3) in the city’s Zoning Code:
A graphic of the proposed 18-story building, included in the application, says its height at the rooftop would be 273 feet, 6 inches. The space between levels, from the fifth floor through the 16th floor, is marked as 12 feet, 8 inches; then, the space between the 16th and 17th levels and the 17th and 18th floors is noted as 14 feet, 8 inches. From the roof level to the top of the roof is marked as 20 feet.
The total area of the development would be about 96,640.4 square feet, or nearly 2.2 acres, a city form said.
Access to the site will be from Pineapple Avenue, Freedman wrote.
Altogether, Freedman pointed out, the proposal calls for 103 multi-family condominiums and 69 attainable rental units, which will front on Pineapple Avenue. Further, he noted, the development will have approximately 31,933 square feet of commercial space, “including a proposed restaurant and other retail uses. Some office space for the [Church of the Redeemer] is also being provided.”
In the preliminary application submitted to the city on Jan. 10, Freedman wrote that the 18-story building would have 100 residential condos, while the nine-story structure would contain 67 rental apartments.
The property slated as home for the Adagio has an office building on the Pineapple Avenue side “and surface parking utilized by the Church of the Redeemer,” Freedman noted in the May application. “The office buildings will be demolished to make way for the new mixed-use project.”
In response to DRC comments about the proposed plans, Freedman wrote that the project’s parking garage “will include enough spaces to exceed the [city] code requirements for the new development.” Parking will be provided for the Church of the Redeemer, as well, he added.
Plans for removal of trees, including Grand Trees
Freedman also pointed out that the project “has been designed to comply with the City’s tree preservation ordinance,” with efforts being made “to minimize removal of existing trees.”
However, an attachment to the application said that those existing trees “impact 16.73% of the total building’s area, affecting 30 residential units and reducing parking availability. Moving the building to avoid the trees would create issues with attainable tower and remove shared amenities,” that section pointed out.
A second page expanded on the details in the first: “Given the substantial impact on the architectural design and the overall feasibility of the project, the removal of the existing trees within the property boundaries is essential. This will allow the construction to proceed as planned, ensuring the safety, functionality, and economic viability of the project.”
Arborist Phil Smith, who is with David W. Johnston Associates of Sarasota, is part of the Adagio team, the application notes.
Smith’s Arboreal Report, included with the application, explains that many of the trees on the site “are in poor condition. Most exhibit exposed roots with decay readily visible in the root system. Extensive foot traffic, maintenance equipment and vehicle use within the root zones have led to their decline. Many trees have matured at or near existing building or sidewalk edges making the root system constricted. It is expected that many of the trees on this site will further decline as many of these visual cues on condition will not change with new development.”
Two of the slash pines and one live oak on the site are considered Grand Trees because of their diameter at breast height, Smith pointed out. While the slash pines were found to have a condition rating of “good,” Smith noted that they likely would suffer harm to their root systems during the removal of the existing building on the site and during the new construction.
The live oak that is a Grand Tree, he added, has a condition rating of “poor.” Smith explained, “The decay and cavity in the lower [third] of the tree is cause for concern. The soft wood/decay make it more likely to fail under normal weather conditions or a storm event [as] the tree further ages/declines. This is an irreversible state that [cannot] be removed or abated by pruning or removal.”