South Sarasota keeps growing with new residents and new developments to match.

The Charleston, South Carolina-based multifamily developer and investment group, Middle Street Partners is breaking ground on a new complex in Venice. It’s the developer’s first project in Florida.

The yet-to-be-named 216-unit complex at 1000 Jacaranda Blvd. will be comprised of five four-story buildings, each with an elevator, and will have one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans. Square footage will range from 707 square feet to 1,250 square feet and prices will start at roughly $1,900 a month—or market rate, says Matt Sand, development director of Middle Street Partners.

The first delivery of units is slated for mid-year, 2025 with total completion in roughly two years.

The complex will include a 7,000-square-foot amenity center, pool and pickleball courts. There will also be more than 10 undisturbed acres set aside for nature walking paths along the existing pine flatwoods and mature forest, pond and wetland areas. No buildings need to be demolished to make space for the new development, as the land has been untouched for decades.

But that's quickly changing. This new development is part of the South County growth that started taking root since 2020, when Middle Street Partners began seeking land in the area to develop. 

The firm bought the 21-acre site east of Jacaranda Boulevard just south of East Venice Avenue for $8.64 million in February last year.

“Post-Covid saw tremendous migration to southwest Florida, and here in particular,” says Sand. “There’s a good job base with healthcare and hospitality and proximity to downtown Wellen Park and Venice."

Middle Street Partners is active in other parts of the state and country, too, although other local projects aren't yet in the works.  But, says Sands, "we're actively looking in the area."

Indeed, multiple reports have placed nearby North Port as a top national relocation destination and nearby Wellen Park as a top 10 best-selling master-planned community in the country for several years in a row. Venice was also named a "Best Coastal Small Town" by USA Today.

More adjacent developments are also in the works, like Brighton, a single-family home community just to to the south of this one by Park Square Homes, which will cost an estimated $68.4 million to build. 

"We’ve viewed the area as one of the top multi-family performers in the country when you look at rent, population and job growth," Sands says. "By the time we deliver, there will still be a demand.”