SARASOTA DOWNTOWN DEVELOPERS are back, and they’re poised to repeat—and possibly outpace—the boom of the mid-2000s. Thirteen downtown projects are either under way or in some form of planning. They include the typical high-end condominiums but also mixed-use projects, affordably priced rental properties and five new hotels.

A few developers are new to Sarasota and one, Canadian John Vandyk, is planning his first U.S. project with a condo complex on Golden Gate Point. Most, though, are familiar names, people who have held onto properties through the downturn and who are ready to build now that the economy has rebounded and demand

is back.

Every development needs solid financing, strong sales and a stable market before breaking ground, so our list is subject to change, but we’ve tracked down the developers and created a list of all the approved commercial residential projects and a list of those that are proposed but were still waiting for approval from the city of Sarasota at press time.

ONE88

JOHN VANDYK, VANDYK GROUP

Canadian John Vandyk arrived in Sarasota like many Northern transplants: on vacation with a wife who convinced her husband to buy a home on Sarasota Bay. Vandyk, who for 30 years has developed custom homes, condos and industrial sites in southern Ontario, immediately saw the opportunity here. “Walking distance to downtown, incredible views both sunset and sunrise,” he says. “We wanted to grow our organization outside the U.S. and we found the right spot.”

COMPANY: VANDYK Group

HEADQUARTERS: Ontario, Canada

PROJECT: One88—a five-story, eight-unit condo on Golden Gate Point

COST: $17 million

UNIT PRICES: $2.6-$3.9 million

TIMELINE: Summer 2014-June 2015

OTHER NOTABLE PROJECTS: First U.S. project, although Vandyk has purchased land on Orange Avenue in Burns Square for future residential development

ONE PALM

JOHN MESHAD, GAVIN MESHAD, DENNIS MCGILLICUDDY, KENT LEVENSON AND SHANE EAGAN

Already rising is One Palm, a two-tower hotel-apartment project developed by some familiar names in the region: attorney and developer John Meshad of JWM Management Inc. and his son, Gavin; investor Dennis McGillicuddy; resort consultant Shane Eagan (who many will remember from his ownership/management of the Longboat Key Club and Resort and other Longboat hotels); and Kent Levenson, an Atlanta-based longtime partner of John Meshad’s. Also involved is iStar Financial, a publicly traded REIT, which owns the property at 240 S. Pineapple. The 139-room hotel will be Starwood Hotels’ modernistic Aloft brand.  For now, the partners are building out the residential tower as 141 apartments, but if market conditions show that condominium units are a better investment, Levenson says each apartment has been built with high-end amenities for easy conversion.

COMPANY: JWM Management Inc.

HEADQUARTERS: Sarasota

PROJECT: One Palm—a 10-story, 141-apartment building and 139-room Aloft Hotel at Palm Avenue and Ringling Boulevard

COST: $54 million

APARTMENT RENTS: $1,500-$4,500

TIMELINE: Now—October 2015

OTHER NOTABLE PROJECTS: The St. Regis Atlanta hotel

VANGUARD LOFTS

KEVIN BRYON, TETRA TERRA DEVELOPMENT

After years of flipping houses in San Francisco, Kevin Bryon was eager to break into the development business in his childhood home of Sarasota. He says he found the perfect opportunity with a boutique project in the Rosemary District, an area that he says mimics the urban feel of his California projects. “The walkability is there. The scale is there,” he says. “There’s a lot of open land to initiate some new urbanism philosophy, and I think the market is perfect right now.”

COMPANY: Tetra Terra Development

HEADQUARTERS: San Francisco

PROJECT: Vanguard Lofts—six one-story and townhome-style condo units at 1343 4th St. near Central Avenue

COST: $2.8 million

UNIT PRICES: $530,000-$745,000

TIMELINE: September 2014-June 2015

OTHER NOTABLE PROJECTS: None locally

VUE

DAVID ARENT, THE KOLTER GROUP

David Arent has developed commercial and condo projects in Jacksonville and Naples for 15 years, though VUE is his first project for West Palm Beach-based The Kolter Group and the company’s first project in Sarasota. Kolter made headlines when it bought the property for a record-breaking $40 million in 2005. The site was previously slated for a Mediterranean-style condo project in the mid-2000s boom, but it was resurrected—with a hotel addition (the area’s first Westin)—and redesigned into a modern showpiece. “You are seeing more modern projects now, and it’s not necessarily something you are seeing across the country. It’s really what people expect in Sarasota,” he says.

COMPANY: The Kolter Group

HEADQUARTERS: West Palm Beach

PROJECT: VUE Sarasota Bay—twin 18-story towers with 141 luxury condos and a 255-room Westin hotel on Gulfstream Avenue and North Tamiami Trail, near The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota

COST: $120.5 million

UNIT PRICES: $800,000-$3.4 million

TIMELINE: Summer 2014-Winter 2016

OTHER NOTABLE PROJECTS: Water Club Snell Isle condos in Tampa

THE JEWEL

TOM MANNAUSA, MAIN STREET J DEVELOPMENT CO.

A prolific Florida developer, Tom Mannausa began his career when he purchased a rental home in college. By graduation, he had five rental properties and two already paid off. He has since developed 51 residential and commercial projects (mostly rental apartments in Florida and Michigan), and he calls the high-end Jewel tower the feather in his cap. “It looks like all of our units have been purchased with cash,” he says. “These are purchasers who intend to design and create a beautiful home. They are not investors.” Construction began this summer.

COMPANY: Main Street J Development Co.

HEADQUARTERS: Bradenton

PROJECT: The Jewel—19 residential and six commercial condos at the corner of Main Street and Gulfstream Avenue

COST: $23.5 million

UNIT PRICES: $1.4-$3 million-plus

TIMELINE: Now-August 2015

OTHER NOTABLE PROJECTS: Center Court apartments in Bradenton, Victoria Pointe apartments in North Port

Q SARASOTA

JIM BRIDGES, JEBCO VENTURES

Jim Bridges started in Atlanta in 1975 with shopping center developments and moved from retail to commercial to residential as the market changed. Now, he says the market is calling for infill projects in urban centers like downtown Sarasota, where limited townhomes are creating high demand. “Townhomes offer not only the same benefits as single-family-home ownership, but the homeowners and association fees are much less than at a condominium,” he says.

COMPANY: Jebco Ventures

HEADQUARTERS: Sarasota

PROJECT: Q—40 two- and three-story townhomes at 1750 Ringling Blvd.

COST: $7.2 million

UNIT PRICES: $470,000-$696,000

TIMELINE: Now-March 2015

OTHER NOTABLE PROJECTS: Vista Bay Point and Phoenix condos on Golden Gate Point, Goodwill Manasota retail store and job center on North Tamiami Trail

PROPOSED PROJECTS

THE BITER BUILDING

DEVELOPER: Jesse Biter

COMPANY: Biter Enterprises

HEADQUARTERS: Sarasota

PROJECT: 168 apartments at 1445 Second St. (At press time, Biter announced his project is up in the air because of financing.)

COST: $40 million-plus

UNIT PRICES: Rents from $1,000-$2,000

TIMELINE: End of 2014-TBD

OTHER NOTABLE PROJECTS: The HuB

EMBASSY SUITES

DEVELOPER: Jim Bridges

COMPANY: Jebco Ventures

HEADQUARTERS: Sarasota

PROJECT: An 18-story, 180-room hotel with restaurant and bar, meeting rooms and 200-space parking garage at 202 N. Tamiami Trail

COST: Less than $40 million

ROOM RATES: $176-$185

TIMELINE: Fall 2014-Winter 2015

OTHER NOTABLE PROJECTS: Phoenix condos on Golden Gate Point

KIMPTON HOTEL

DEVELOPER: Rod Connelly

COMPANY: Civix LLC

HEADQUARTERS: Sarasota

PROJECT: 150 rooms with restaurant, meeting spaces, and retail at Main Street and Washington Street

COST: $45 million.

ROOM RATES: Around $200

TIMELINE: January 2015-October 2016

OTHER NOTABLE PROJECTS: Center Pointe office building on Main Street, Casarina condos on Siesta Key.

SANSARA

DEVELOPER: Matt Kihnke

COMPANY: MK Equity and CMK Companies

HEADQUARTERS: Chicago

PROJECT:  A 10-story, 17-unit condo with commercial space at the Pineapple Avenue roundabout near Burns Court

COST: $30 million

UNIT PRICES: $1-$3.7 million

TIMELINE: Fall 2014-Fall 2015

OTHER NOTABLE PROJECTS: Contemporaine condos in Chicago, Sailrock residential community in Turks and Caicos

CITYSIDE

DEVELOPER: Bruce Weiner

COMPANY: Rosalyne Holdings

HEADQUARTERS: Pittsburgh

PROJECT: Up to 450 apartments on 6.5 acres on Cocoanut Avenue north of Boulevard of the Arts

COST: $45 million

UNIT PRICES: Monthly rents from $900-$1,600

TIMELINE: Early 2015-summer 2016

OTHER NOTABLE PROJECTS: Florida Classic Car Storage at Central Avenue and 12th Street

HOTEL SARASOTA

DEVELOPER: Angus Rogers

COMPANY: Floridays

HEADQUARTERS: Sarasota

PROJECT: An eight-story, 186-room hotel on North Palm Avenue adjacent to city parking garage

COST: $40 million-plus

DAILY ROOM RATES: $200

TIMELINE: Late 2014-Winter 2015

OTHER NOTABLE PROJECTS: Grande Riviera condos on Golden Gate Point, Floridays Resort in Orlando

ROSEMARY SQUARE

DEVELOPER: Mark Kauffman COMPANY: Rosemary Square LLC

HEADQUARTERS: Sarasota

PROJECT: Mixed-use project with 40 apartments, 34,000 square feet of commercial space, performing arts theater and town square on Central Avenue, Fifth Street and Boulevard of the Arts

COST: $20 million

UNIT PRICES: TBD

TIMELINE: Early 2016-TBD

OTHER NOTABLE PROJECTS: Hollywood 20 theater, P.F. Chang’s China Bistro and, coming soon, Payne Park Plaza, an 8,295-square-foot office building on Washington Blvd.