Work Begins on the Rosemary Square Development
SARASOTA – Construction is underway on the Rosemary Square mixed-use project, the latest new development in the long-blighted Rosemary District north of downtown.
The $20 million project, 1440 Boulevard of the Arts, will include 50 condominium units and 30,000 square feet of retail and office space in four buildings, city documents show.
Thirty of the residential units will be used by the Sarasota Opera to house its artists, a boutique theater and fine arts, according to contractor Gilbane Building Co.
“Rosemary Square’s convenient location to downtown Sarasota supports the economic growth of the area and local neighborhoods,” Gilbane vice president Tim Hensey said in a statement. “The timing is right for a project like this.”
The project is being developed by Mark Kauffman and Partners. Jonathan Parks is the architect. It is expected to be finished next summer.
A number of developers have targeted the Rosemary District. The city has added density to allow more units at some projects.
A South Carolina company recently proposed a four-story, 295-unit apartment project called Elan Rosemary, formerly the 7th Street Apartments, east of North Lemon Avenue, north of Boulevard of the Arts, near the west end of Seventh Street.
Other projects in the works in the neighborhood include Sarasota Flats, 228 units at Fruitville Road and Central Avenue; Cityside, with 450 apartments at Florida and Cocoanut avenues; and Valencia at Rosemary Place, 32 townhomes at Cocoanut and Boulevard of the Arts.
Risdon Group Unveils New Rosemary District Project
The Sarasota-based developer has proposed a mixed-use luxury project near the intersection of 5th Street and Central Avenue, further contributing to the rise of the Rosemary District.
Less than two weeks after Gilbane Building Company broke ground on the $20 million Rosemary Square project, another developer will pitch plans for luxury condominiums in the blossoming area north of downtown.
Rosemary District-based Risdon Group will meet with the city’s Development Review Committee next week to discuss plans for Risdon on 5th, which includes 22 condos and six offices in 36,000 square feet of space near the intersection of Central Avenue and Fifth Street. Halflants + Pichette Architects, which is also based in the district, will oversee design of the $5 million project.
“Risdon on 5th is setting the style, DNA and positioning for the Rosemary District’s evolution into a hip, happening neighborhood and Design District,” said Risdon Group President Steve Bradley.
The complex will feature an “original, urban and edgy” design, Bradley said. Halflants + Pichette also oversaw the architectural work on Vanguard Lofts, which is another new development slated for Rosemary.
Property owner Scot Lloyd bought the 21,000-square foot parcel for $590,000 in January. The property’s land value has jumped from a recent low of $253,800 in 2009 to more than $730,000 this year, according preliminary values on the Sarasota County Property Appraiser’s website.
Sarasota Herald Tribune & Observer August 2015
