Orange Pineapple LLC just bought seven parcels of land, totaling roughly 3.1 acres, at the intersection of Ringling Boulevard and Orange Avenue in downtown Sarasota for $32 million. The properties sold quickly and were never listed on the open market. The deal closed on May 24.

The new owners haven't announced plans for the parcels, but they are zoned to build up to 10 stories and 50 residential units per acre—and more units if affordable housing is included. The zoning allows for condos, apartments, hotel and retail space.

All of the buildings on the property, other than the two-story Williams Parker Harrison Dietz & Getzen attorney firm's brick building at 200 S. Pineapple Ave., are single-story, which means there's a very good chance they’ll all be demolished to make way for a single larger project. The seven parcels included in the sale are 1520 Cross St., 1530 Cross St., 1544 Cross St., 301 S. Pineapple Ave., 200 S. Orange Ave., 300 S. Orange Ave. and 1520 Ringling Blvd. The property is two blocks south of Main Street and less than a quarter mile from Bayfront Park. The 301 S. Pineapple Ave. address is now vacant, but used to house Nancy's Bar-B-Que, which is now located in Lakewood Ranch.

"The owners have been tight-lipped about what they'll do there, but I'm assuming it will be a mixed-use project," says Jag Grewal. Grewal, along with Steve Horn, both of Ian Black Real Estate, represented the sellers, Capstone Group Holdings LLC and Ringling and Orange 3 LLC, in the deal. "Sarasota has been 'found,' so to speak, and the quality of developments that are coming here will be like nothing we've seen before." 

Orange Pineapple LLC shares an address with Steele Harbour Capital Partners, a real estate investment firm that targets middle-market investment opportunities with deals that range in size from "$25 million to $200-plus million," according to its website. Steele Harbour Capital Partners is based in Tysons, Virginia, with regional offices in New York City and Sarasota. The managing member of Orange Pineapple LLC is Christopher McGrew, who is also the founding partner and chief executive of Steele Harbour. 

In 2018, Capstone Group Holdings LLC and the law firm of Williams Parker Harrison Dietz & Getzen entered into a long-term development project, which we wrote about here. Both parties had anticipated the construction of a mixed-use development, including residential and commercial space, with an office building that would have become Williams Parker’s new headquarters. Now, Williams Parker is moving to the Plaza at Five Points in downtown Sarasota, where it will occupy the eighth floor at 50 Central Ave. The move is expected to be complete by this summer.

One of the parcels included in the $32 million sale is known as the McAlpin Home. Located at 1530 Cross St., it is locally historically designated, thanks to a former property owner who at the time requested and received the designation in 1985.  It's a cast-stone structure and dates back to 1912—before Sarasota was incorporated as a city. About a year ago, the Historic Preservation Board approved a 150-foot relocation of the McAlpin Home, but that never happened. To relocate it elsewhere from what has been approved, the current owner would need to return to the Historic Preservation Board for approval. 

The owner and builder of nearby Burns Court, Owen Burns, first visited Sarasota in 1910. Over the course of the next few years, Burns established the Burns Realty Company, with an office located at 229 Main St., as well as the Burns Dredging Company. He also worked in partnership with George M. McAlpin as Burns & McAlpin, a company that did curbing, sidewalk paving and construction. The Burns & McAlpin Company laid most of the brick streets throughout the nearby Laurel Park neighborhood. 

A request for demolition of the structure would require the submission of a Certificate of Appropriateness application package to be reviewed by the City’s historic preservationist. A public hearing would then be scheduled with the Historic Preservation Board.

This deal comes on the heels of the sale of the 12-story Zenith building at 1390 Main St., which sold in January for $24 million. Grewal was also among the agents who facilitated its sale and says, "Between these two landmark locations for downtown Sarasota, both will most probably be mixed-use projects—that would be the best use of the space. It just makes sense to do that on those sites."