Newsletter 155

NEWS FROM THE SUNCOAST …..

DEVELOPERS HAVE THE INSIDE TRACK

Business leaders behind much of the growth and development of Sarasota in recent years enjoy a cozy, unmonitored relationship with local government officials and department heads, benefitting from access the general public never has an opportunity to match, an investigation by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune concludes.  

Through public records requests, the newspaper has documented numerous instances of direct communications between developers and government officials regarding proposed projects − in many cases long before those proposals reach a public forum.  These behind-the-scenes dealings are not illegal but raise concerns about whether developers have outsized influence as a result of frequent contact with public officials and government administrators. Long-time developers argue the contacts aren’t excessive or even influential, but merely the result of a highly regulated industry, with the emails showing property owners exercising the strong property rights protections provided in Florida law. “We spend millions answering the questions in the public forum and everybody wonders what’s happening,” Pat Neal, one of the largest developers in the region, said. “But what’s really happening is Article 5 of the Constitution: Private land will not be taken for public use without just compensation.” County officials also discount the significance of the frequent contacts, noting they schedule meetings with anyone who wants to discuss land development issues. The planning department “is open to meet with anybody who would like to meet, whether that’s a property owner, an agent or a professional or if it’s just some interested folks from a certain community or neighborhood who have questions about a project or our procedures,” Sarasota County Director of Planning and Development Services Matt Osterhoudt said. “That’s open to anybody in our community.” Still, the volume and frequency of developer contacts with government raise questions among neighborhood organizers who have increasingly voiced concerns about how much influence developers have over the regulators who are tasked with managing growth in one of the fastest-growing communities in the country. Mike Hutchinson, the treasurer of the grassroots organization Keep the Country Country, said developers have the inside track on government decisions because of their familiarity with regulators and a lack of transparency from county officials. The drumbeat of developers’ voices in county officials’ ears drowns out the input of local residents, community leaders say, giving developers an unfair advantage in matters of public policy over building issues. “Trying to find out what’s going on is very difficult,” Hutchinson said. “Oftentimes before we even hear about something, they’ve been talking for months.” For more information on this story, courtesy of Sarasota Herald-Tribune, please click here: Developers Have The Inside Track

4 BIG HOTELS SUBMITTED FOR SIESTA KEY

A Herald-Tribune investigation into close contacts between Sarasota County officials and prominent local developers stemmed from the County Commission’s handling of citizens’ legal challenges to the board’s approval of two requests to big multi-story hotels on Siesta Key. In all, developers have discussed building four hotels — each currently proposed for more than 100 rooms — that are still under consideration for development while county leaders consider changing the county’s growth policies that would allow the hotels to be built on the barrier island.

Here’s what you need to know about the four hotel projects. The county commission approved two hotels in the fall of 2021. One was a project on Calle Miramar in the heart of Siesta Key Village that received approval for 170 rooms on about one acre. The owner is SKH 1 LLC, which is managed by local Sarasota real estate agent Robert Anderson. The developer has since resubmitted an application in 2023 with slightly fewer rooms. The current proposal under consideration calls for a hotel about 80-feet tall with 163 rooms. Another previously approved project that had to start over after a judge overturned the County Commission’s approval last year would be near Siesta Key’s south bridge. The revised plans still call for 120 rooms. The developer is Gary Kompothecras, also known as “Dr. Gary.” Kompothecras has achieved local fame for his 1-800-ASK-GARY legal service, ownership of the nearby Crescent Club bar and perhaps most notoriously for pitching and executive producing the MTV reality series “Siesta Key.” The only project that did not initially draw a legal challenge by Siesta Key residents, Sarasota County resident Dave Balot’s hotel is proposed to include 112 rooms on 2.15 acres on Midnight Pass Road, where a former Wells Fargo bank building sits. Balot has also sought to change the county’s growth policy to allow for a maximum of 52 units per acre on commercial property on Siesta Key. Balot has also attempted to differentiate his hotel plan from other proposals that have attempted to remove unit per-acre restrictions from hotel room calculations. Benderson Development, one of the largest active developers in the region, had not been publicly involved in hotel development the first time Siesta Key hotels came before the County Commission.

However, the Manatee County-headquartered development company has taken point position this time, spearheading a growth policy change that could eventually pave way for development of large hotels on the barrier island. The 147-room hotel the development company proposes on Siesta Key would be along Ocean Boulevard and Calle Menorca across the road from the Siesta Key Oyster Bar.

Please click here for more: 4 Big Hotels Submitted For Siesta Key

SOME STILL GIVING TO UNITED WAY

Although the Sarasota County Commission voted to end its payroll deduction program for employees to donate to United Way or other approved groups, county constitutional offices have largely opted to keep the program in place for their workers. Tax Collector Barbara Ford-Coates, Clerk and Comptroller Karen Rushing, and Property Appraiser Bill Furst told the Herald-Tribune they plan to keep their United Way payroll deduction programs. “I just don’t see any reason to cut it,” Furst said. “People want to give to the United Way, and I don’t want to tell them they can’t.” The program has been in place at the Property Appraiser’s Department since Furst took over in 2009. The County Commission voted to sever its relationship with United Way after weeks of blasting the nonprofit for its use of Planned Parenthood as a referred service provider for its 211 helpline. Commissioner Neil Rainford, who is currently running for reelection, has recently used his opposition to abortion services as part of his campaign. The break with United Way and opposition to Planned Parenthood came despite the fact that the agency is now legally-bound to follow state law and cease most abortion services after the mother is six weeks pregnant, and that the 211 line in Sarasota made zero referrals to Planned Parenthood during the 2022-23 fiscal year. Ford-Coates said her agency coordinates with United Way, a group she said fills vital needs to the community. “I’ve been working at the Tax Collector’s office − it’ll be 49 years this year − and we’ve always had the option of payroll deduction,” Ford-Coates said. Rushing pointed out that the Sarasota County Commission does not oversee her office; she is independently elected to oversee a constitutional mandate. “Our employees are so proud of their service to the community; I don’t want to take the opportunity away,” Rushing said. Offices without the payroll deduction program did not get rid of it because of recent pressure from the County Commission. A Sarasota Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said the agency used to have a United Way payroll deduction program that has been out of existence for at least a year. Sarasota County Schools spokesperson Kelsey Whealy said the district also had such a program, but it was discontinued in 2021. County employees can donate directly to United Way or to a list of approved groups United Way directs the funds to. To read more please click here: Some Still Giving To United Way

SARASOTA-BRADENTON OVERVALUED?

A recent report from national real estate website Redfin spotlighted Sarasota for its surging number of homes for sale at the same time as sellers slash prices faster than anywhere else in the country. “Sarasota, in particular, has been overvalued for decades, and the chickens have finally come to roost,” Redfin sales manager Eric Auciello said in the Redfin report. But at least this means prices have to come down, right? Not so fast, local real estate professionals told the Herald-Tribune. They don’t see any chickens roosting yet and found the report lacking important context. For example, while Redfin reported 48% of Sarasota metro homes for sale experienced price cuts by the end of March, the median property in the metro area still sold for 95% of list price. The region’s real estate market has clearly cooled from back-to-back years of double-digit price appreciation — an off-the-charts 36.3% in 2021, a still historically very high 19.6% in 2022. Interest rate hikes put the brakes on runaway home prices in 2023, when prices were mostly flat. Still, prices remain generally buoyant: in March the median sales price was $515,000, with a median time to contract of 40 days. In comparison, the median sales price at the end of 2019 in Sarasota County came in at $290,000, with a median time to contract of 50 days. “When I read that (Redfin) report, I couldn’t help but laugh,” said Laura Cole, the vice president of sales at Lakewood Ranch. “It’s just so starkly different from what we are seeing on the ground.” Cole said the first quarter of 2024 was Lakewood Ranch’s second-best sales year in the 30 years since development began on the 33,000-acre property that straddles Manatee and Sarasota counties.

Lakewood Ranch has been one of the fastest selling master-planned communities in the United States for several years in row, selling and building thousands of homes every year. The community now has about 24,000 homes constructed at about 60% buildout for a community that started in 1994, Cole said. Cole and other real estate professionals interviewed by the Herald-Tribune point to record low numbers coming out of the pandemic for the Sarasota area’s showing on the Redfin list that gained national attention. At that time, fewer than 1,000 single-family homes were for sale in an area that stretches from North Port to Bradenton. Local experts said that, given the post pandemic buying frenzy, it’s not surprising that inventory is up about 60% compared to a year ago, the figures that put Sarasota’s statistics among the largest percentage increases in the country. There’s more on this story here: Sarasota-Bradenton Overvalued?

OVER 6,500 NEW HOMES PLANNED NEAR CLARK

Flowering plants grow and collections of cows graze across 2,700 acres east of Interstate 75 and south of Clark Road. The site is zoned under a designation reserved for agriculture — and, for now, remains untouched. By 2040, the now-vacant swath will host the latest in a line of village-style developments out east. 3H Ranch — a development consisting of more than 6,500 homes, 250,000 square feet of commercial space, 120,000 square feet of office space and more than 400 acres of green space across 14 interconnected neighborhoods — will replace the grassy expanse. Sarasota County Commission approval on a rezone amendment and Development of Critical Concern order will allow construction to proceed as outline in the development’s application. The application for 3H Ranch submitted to the Sarasota County Planning Commission and obtained by the Herald-Tribune includes almost 800 pages of site plans, studies and background material. These are the key takeaways from the documents. The ranch was proposed in June, according to material submitted to the Sarasota County Planning Commission, but developer 3 H Ranch LLC hosted a neighborhood workshop and notified nearby residents of the pending development application a year earlier. Since then, it received administrative approval from the county Development Review Committee and a recommendation for county commission approval from the planning board. 3 H Ranch LLC owns a majority of the development, with its six parcels totaling a little more than 2,400 acres. Pat Neal’s Sioux Investment Partners LLC owns the remaining three parcels, which account for just over 383 acres. It’s unclear when the enterprises purchased the land. The project’s borders begin at the intersection of Clark Road and Lorraine Road, and the stretch of land is flanked by the two-lane Ibis Street on its west side a now-unpaved extention of Lorraine Road to the east. The Serenoa development and the Grand Park community neighbor the 3H Ranch site along Ibis Street, while Skye Ranch lies across Lorraine Road to the east. Transportation across 3H Ranch will include interconnected roads, bike lanes and pedestrian paths, with an extension of Dove Avenue serving as a major outlet from the development to Lorraine Road. A traffic study conducted by development design company Stantec predicts that 3H Ranch will generate 4,860 new trips during peak afternoon travel times, with major arteries to Clark Road like Beneva Road, Honore Avenue and Proctor Road seeing notable trip increases. In response to the potential traffic uptick, the background material outlines improvements that local roadways will undergo as the development builds out. Sections of Cattlemen Road, Clark Road, Laurel Road and State Road 681 will widen from four lanes to six lanes, and a section of Honore Avenue will widen from two lanes to four lanes. 3 H Ranch LLC and Sioux Investments LLC will pay impact fees for the county to construct these improvements. Please follow the jump for more on this story: 3H Ranch Development

PARCELS PURCHASED FOR PRESERVATION

Sarasota County recently purchased five acres off of East Venice Avenue and a 43 acres near North Port with money from its Environmentally Sensitive Land Protection Program that will increase land conservation the Myakka River drainage basin. The most recent purchase, a five-acre parcel south of East Venice Avenue and just east of River Road, closed April 12 for $950,000 from the Rebecca Lee Morgan Revocable Living Trust and includes a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home.

On April 4, Sarasota County bought a 43.34-acre parcel off Woodland Boulevard near North Port that was already targeted as a Deer Prairie Creek Preserve protection priority site. That parcel, known as the Burns Property, cost $1.45 million. The Environmentally Sensitive Land Protection Program, known as ESLPP, began in 1999 and was funded after a voter referendum to authorize the sale of $53 million in bonds that could be paid off with money raised from a small property tax.

A subsequent vote in 2005 extended the program through 2029, raised the bonding limit to $250 million and created a sister program to acquire park land. To date, roughly 40,300 acres of environmentally sensitive land has been protected with the funds. The East Venice, former Morgan home site is near both Snook Haven Park and Sleeping Turtles Preserve South. Wildlife sightings there include gopher tortoises, red-shouldered hawks and great horned owls, while the plant life includes southern red cedar, cabbage palm and pond cypress, as well as mesic flatwood and remnant scrubby flatwoods habitat. “We have been able to acquire beautiful, natural sites with the Environmentally Sensitive Lands Protection Program,” Sarasota County Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Director Nicole Rissler said in a prepared statement. “These sites are important for local wildlife and are key for connectivity in the area.” A portion of the land may be used as additional parking for Sleeping Turtles Preserve, which is on the north side of East Venice Avenue. Please click here to see the pics: Parcels Purchased For Preservation

PARK PLAN SCUTTLED

A proposal by the state of Florida to purchase Rattlesnake Key for a new state park has fallen through, and the lush Manatee County island is now up for sale to private enterprise. The state appropriated $23 million to purchase Rattlesnake Key in 2022 for conservation purposes, with $2.3 million in additional funding pledged by Manatee County, but those plans fell apart after a $7.6 million appraisal of the island attained by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection led to a lowball offer that was quickly rejected. The $23 million in funding will revert to the state on June 30, records show. State officials have also included a separate $8 million funding request as a part of the 2024-25 budget with intent to make an offer for Rattlesnake Key. Rattlesnake Key has been a part of the DEP’s Florida Forever Program acquisition list of target properties for 26 years, but the appraisal attained by the DEP significantly lowballed the purchase price regardless of available program funds, according to Environmental PR Group Owner Honey Rand, who represents the island’s owners. “The person that is responsible for acquiring lands at DEP gave the appraiser some direction and sent him out, but we feel like the information provided to the appraiser was insufficient for the property and the appraiser came back with a very low valuation,” Rand said. “The money had already been allocated by the Legislature, but they came back with something in the $7.6 million range. The answer to that was ‘no.'” Along with state funds, Manatee County had previously approved a 10% match for the park, up to a limit of $3 million. The county will go back to the drawing board now that initial plans have been nixed. Negotiations with the land owner is ongoing, but Rand said that private interests are now making offers to purchase Rattlesnake Key and surrounding islands.

Owners are asking for $75 million for Rattlesnake Key and surrounding islands for private enterprise, although have indicated willingness to honor the sale of the island to the state for the $25 million that had previously been pledged. “The cost to buy Rattlesnake has remained the same over the years, and the owners are still willing to honor that price for the state and Manatee County,” Rand said. “In June, when the new budget kicks in, Rattlesnake will go back on the market with a new price and could potentially be sold to a private owner.” Please click here for more: Park Plan Scuttled

SARASOTA COUNTY MAY RAISE FEES FOR TRASH

As Sarasota County plans to switch to new providers for garbage collection in 2025, officials are preparing residents for changes, which could include fee increases.   

The county’s20-year partnership with its previous provider, Waste Management, will end. Waste Pro of Florida and FCC Environmental Services have signed four-year contracts, beginning on March 31, 2025 for collection services. “Service for residents living in unincorporated Sarasota County and businesses operating in unincorporated Sarasota County will be included in the changes,” according to a county press release. “However, those living or operating in the cities of Sarasota, Venice, North Port or the Town of Longboat Key will not be affected by the new hauler contracts.” The two providers will split services across two districts of unincorporated Sarasota County. Waste Pro will cover the North District, which encompasses the area north of State Road 72 and east of Midnight Pass Road. FCC Environmental will cover the South District, which covers coastal areas and extends into eastern Sarasota County. The county will pay FCC Environmental Services $7.1 million over a four-year contract; Waste Pro will receive $5.8 million over the same timeframe, according to county records. The county still distinguishes waste collection by property use – with Class I for single-family homes and multiplexes up to 9 units and Class II for apartment and condominium buildings, as well as mobile homes. However, the county held a public hearing on May 7 to determine whether to amend the ordinance that properties with curbside garbage pickup would be Class I and properties with central collection services – such as a Dumpster – would be Class II.  The County Commission will decide whether to impose proposed service fee hikes at the May meeting. For Class I households, the increase would be $2.53 a month, or $30.36 a year. For Class II households, it would be an increase of $2.14 a month, or $25.68 a year. Please click on the link for more: Trash Collection Fees May Increase

AVIATION FIRM PLANS COMPLEX AT AIRPORT

Sheltair, a leading provider of aviation services and aviation real estate development, is expanding to Sarasota Bradenton International Airport, building a $40 million private complex that is scheduled to begin operations in the fourth quarter of 2025. Sheltair, a family-owned company based in Fort Lauderdale, is the nation’s largest privately owned aviation network, operating at 21 airports in Florida, Georgia, Texas, and Colorado. Sheltair broke ground for its SRQ terminal and hangar complex on April 30. “I can’t begin to express how excited we are to be in the Sarasota market,” said Lisa Holland, president and CEO of Sheltair. “We recognize the potential that it holds for us, and we look forward to working with the community to bring our ‘Family First’ mission to the area.” Sheltair said the decision to expand to SRQ was driven by the airport’s robust business and general aviation flight activity and by the demand for based aircraft storage opportunities. “We are thrilled to announce the arrival of Sheltair as the third fixed-base operator at SRQ,” said Rick Piccolo, president and CEO of Sarasota Bradenton International Airport. “Situated on 24 acres within the new north quad airport development, this addition will provide another choice for the general aviation community and bring numerous job opportunities to the Sarasota-Bradenton area.” The addition of Sheltair Sarasota marks the company’s 17th FBO location and 13th in Florida. Sheltair’s development at SRQ will provide prime space for various aviation businesses and leisure travelers alike. A highlight of the development is a 10,705-square-foot terminal situated on 15 acres of apron space that will have a large airside canopy. The FBO will include a lobby for passengers and pilots and an exclusive lounge area for private use. Further amenities include waiting areas, crew rest facilities, and conference rooms for businesses on the go. The terminal will also host local aeronautical businesses seeking high visibility at KSRQ with several large office options. There’s more on this story here: Aviation Firm Plans SRQ Complex

SEASON’S FIRST TURTLE NEST DISCOVERED

Mote Marine Laboratory’s Sea Turtle Conservation and Research Program (STCRP) documented the first local sea turtle nest of the 2024 season on Sunday, April 28, on Venice Beach, marking the beginning of a crucial period for sea turtle conservation, according to a news release. The first nest was laid by a loggerhead sea turtle, a threatened species protected under federal law, the release from Mote noted. Loggerheads are the most common species on southwest Florida nesting beaches, followed by endangered green sea turtles. In recent years, Sarasota County has also hosted a handful of endangered Kemp’s ridleys, among the smallest and rarest sea turtles. During nesting season, the STCRP documents nesting activities, which allows them to analyze trends, shifts in timing of nesting events in relation to the seasons, nesting density, the number of eggs in a nest that produces live hatchlings that surface, environmental impacts, effects of nest site selection and more. From April 15 to Oct. 31, the organization’s Sea Turtle Patrol conducts daily monitoring during the nesting season. Each day, they volunteers survey 35 miles of beaches, from Longboat Key to Venice, for the nests. “Even though sea turtle nesting season isn’t officially supposed to start until May 1, we like to be prepared and patrol early to make sure we catch the first signs of nesting on our beaches,” said Melissa Macksey, Senior Biologist and Conservation Manager of STCRP. “Our enthusiastic volunteers and interns make patrolling 35 miles of beaches possible. We could not do it without them. They are the reason we were able to catch this early nest.” The effort involves Mote staff, interns and more than 300 volunteers. Monitoring began April 15. This marks the 43rd for the monitoring program. Mote’s research shows that nest numbers have increased on local beaches in recent years. In 2023, Mote reported 4,284 nests from Longboat Key to Venice. “Now that we have identified the first nest of the season, we implore beachgoers to be conscious of the sea turtles while enjoying Florida’s unparalleled beaches,” said Macksey. “There are many simple ways to help protect sea turtles and their nests. Hatchlings will have a better chance at surviving if everyone does their part.” There’s more on this story here: Season’s First Turtle Nest Discovered

HOUSING ISSUES STRAIN SHERIFF’S OFFICE

Sarasota County Sheriff Kurt Hoffman remembers the day recently when one of his SWAT deputies approached him with tears in his eyes. The deputy and his wife – parents of a toddler and with a baby on the way – had just learned that the new owners of their building were raising the rent on their one-bedroom unit by $900 a month. “Sheriff, I’m going to have to go back to Texas,” the deputy said.

Hoffman asked him to hold on. Then he hit the phones. “I contacted every apartment complex in Sarasota County to ask if there was an opportunity to give a first responder reduced rates on rent in exchange for security help,” Hoffman said. Only about a half dozen called back, but most of the complexes were full. In the end, the deputy was forced to move with his young family. “It really bugs me,” Hoffman said. “I love being a problem solver.” But like many employers in the region, Hoffman is finding that the housing crisis is one major challenge for his 1,100 employees that he has not been able to fix. Despite his efforts to help over the last several years through things like pay raises, employees on exit interviews continue to cite housing costs as a top reason for leaving. Housing costs are also a major barrier to recruitment. And every time he loses personnel, with them goes a substantial investment in their training. “Some say this is not government’s business,” Hoffman said of housing. “But at the end of the day, it’s a safety thing if you can’t get nurses and you can’t get firefighters and you can’t get cops – your community is going to suffer at some point.” Hoffman is about to get a bit of an assist. In the first initiative of its kind, a new 49-unit downtown workforce housing community called On the Park is in the works – with half of its apartments to be set aside for employees of the Sheriff’s Office. Developed by workforce housing experts One Stop Housing, On the Park will sit on a nearly one-acre parcel of land on School Avenue across from Payne Park that was donated by prominent real estate businesswoman Michael Saunders. The project came together organically late last year, said One Stop managing partner Mark Vengroff, whose family has specialized in workforce housing for decades. After one of his community presentations, Vengroff was approached by Saunders, who told him she wanted to give back to the community by offering this parcel for one of his endeavors, he said. As Saunders and Vengroff were in talks over details and which segment of the workforce to target, Vengroff had a separate conversation about the Sheriff’s Office with Christine Robinson, executive director of the Argus Foundation. Robinson stressed how the housing crisis was impacting sheriff’s deputies and employees, he said. No other workforce projects had focused on the Sheriff’s Office before, they realized. “I think there was a point in time in which our community was pretending we didn’t have a problem,” Robinson said about affordable housing. Those days are over, she added. While many are feeling the crisis, the county’s well-being is at stake when law enforcement can no longer afford to live here. “It is a quality of life problem for our entire community,” she said. Click here for more: Housing Issues Strain Sheriff’s Office

MALL DEMOLITION PLAN RECEIVES KEY APPROVALS

The long-anticipated — and still-debated — redevelopment of the Sarasota Square Mall has reached a key milestone with the Sarasota County Commission’s approval of several planning and zoning steps, priming the former commercial and social hub for a transformation. The decisions clear the way for Illinois-based developer Torburn Partners to move forward in potentially demolishing the mall and building a mixed-use development across almost 95 acres. Preliminary plans include 692,500 square feet of non-residential space and an apartment complex with 500 to 1,200 units. The property’s Costco, JCPenney and AMC Theaters buildings will remain, but new structures will occupy the rest of the mall site that Torburn Partners acquired the acreage in a series of purchases — totaling $35.3 million — beginning in 2021. Bob Horne, principal at Torburn Partners, said the development will promote walkability and a community-oriented lifestyle with businesses, restaurants, residences in closer proximity. He predicts development will fill in retail and entertainment gaps left following the demise of Sarasota Square, which, like other malls nationwide declined over the past two decades. “This was once the place in Sarasota County,” Horne said. “This project will bring a whole new vitality back to this area.” The commission heard six motions that moved to rezone parcels of the mall to regional commercial and commercial general, added acreage to the mall’s overall master plan, called a Development of Regional Impact, and the U.S. 41/Beneva Road Critical Area Plan and approved a special exception for outdoor entertainment and recreation past 10 p.m. within the development. The issues made it past the Planning Commission, which unanimously approved them March 7 despite significant pushback. Public speakers echoed much of that protest recently, expressing approval of revitalizing the area but adding concerns of overdevelopment and incompatibility with nearby neighborhoods. Please click here for more: Mall Demolition Plan Receives Key Approvals

VAN WEZEL SETS NEW RECORD WITH ‘HAMILTON’

Over a two-week run in Sarasota, the hit musical “Hamilton” became the most successful show in the history of Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall based on sold-out performances, hall officials said. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical about Founding Father Alexander Hamilton sold out all 16 performances during its March 25-April 7 run, narrowly topping the 99.61 percent seating capacity reached for the three-week run of Disney’s “The Lion King” in 2019. “I’m thrilled with how successful “Hamilton” was this season,” Van Wezel Executive Director Mary Bensel said in a statement. “So much hard work and dedication went into bringing this show to Sarasota. I’m delighted with the positive response from all those who came to experience the movement with us.” The multi-award-winning musical has been Broadway’s biggest hit since it opened in 2015, and the national tour came to Sarasota relatively quickly compared to other major productions, after two runs at Tampa’s Straz Center for the Performing Arts. It took 25 years before “The Lion King” tour was adapted to fit theaters the size of the Van Wezel. The Van Wezel reported that 26,928 patrons saw “Hamilton” during the run. “The Lion King” had higher ticket sales because of the longer run and was seen by more than 37,000 theatergoers. At the time, the hall said “The Lion King” had an $11.4 million economic impact on the Sarasota area from travel, hotels, restaurants, parking and other businesses patronized by theatergoers and staff. “Hamilton” came at a time when Bensel and the Sarasota Performing Arts Foundation have been making a push to build a new and bigger performing arts hall to accommodate larger, more elaborate productions. Bensel said producers of some shows like “Wicked” have told her they won’t schedule a tour stop in Sarasota unless there are a minimum of 2,000 seats. Van Wezel seats just under 1,800 people. The Foundation is leading efforts to build a hall that would have 2,250 seats in the main auditorium and is projected to cost up to $300 million. The City of Sarasota, which owns the Van Wezel and the land around it, will pay half the costs, and the Foundation has committed to raise the other 50 percent. The international architecture firm Renzo Piano Building Workshop, which has designed such buildings as the Whitney Museum in New York and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, has been selected to design the new center. The Foundation also recently hired Tania Castroverde Moskalenko as its new CEO. She started her job in February.

There’s more to read here: Van Wezel Sets New Record

FST CELEBRATES 50 YEARS!

Those who were around Sarasota in 1973 when Florida Studio Theatre began then left town for a while probably wouldn’t recognize the place today. The company was started by Jon Spelman to present theater in nursing homes, prisons and migrant farms – anywhere there were people who might never buy a ticket. That was the target audience. It also found a home base at the historic Sarasota Women’s Club at the intersection of Palm and Cocoanut avenues in downtown Sarasota, from which it began building an audience in 1977. Just three years later, Spelman decided to take a sabbatical and invited Richard Hopkins to fill in and direct. Spelman never returned and Hopkins never left. That was in 1980, and Hopkins has served as producing artistic director (or some form of that title) for 44 years. He is the longest-serving artistic leader in Sarasota history. (Sarasota Opera Artistic Director Victor DeRenzi is just two years behind him at 42 years). At the company’s recent 50th anniversary Shindig, FST’s more relaxed version of a gala, Hopkins reflected on the company’s modest beginnings: “We started with 72 seats and tin cans for lights, a budget of $140,000 and 103 subscribers. That year we survived and grew to 450 subscribers. I remind myself, never forget your roots, Richard.” When I moved to Sarasota in 1984, friends described FST as Sarasota’s off-Broadway theater, at least if you considered the more mainstream Asolo Repertory Theatre as the local version of Broadway. FST was the place to see more provocative, challenging shows, the ones causing talk or distress or perhaps – like “La Ronde” – police raids. There were plays by Harold Pinter, Lanford Wilson, Edward Albee, Sam Shepard and Christopher Durang, along with productions of Neil Simon’s less-popular shows. Even as it has become more mainstream itself, with higher caliber production values, hit musicals and more recent Broadway plays, FST still has a casual, downtown feel and continues to present more off-beat works and new plays. Numbers don’t tell everything, but they are impressive, as Hopkins told that party crowd. “While the average theater in America today plays to 60 percent capacity, we play to nearly 100 percent capacity,” he said. “And while half of the theaters in America are in debt, Florida Studio Theatre is in the black and has been for the past quarter century.” Many longtime Sarasota-area theatergoers will tell you they subscribe because it makes financial sense. A mainstage season subscription might cost $59 for four shows, while single tickets for the current musical “Troubadour” can cost up to $56. As long as audiences continue to enjoy at least most of what they’re seeing, they’ll continue to subscribe, even months before the theater announces what they’ll be seeing. “They said it couldn’t be done, but we have invented a new model and people are following it. Low price and high-quality work. Audiences come to Florida Studio Theatre to see theater, not to be seen,” Hopkins said. He has more numbers to back him up. The average theater in the nation plays to 67,000 people, he said. FST played to 230,000 last year. The average theater in America has 4,200 subscribers, while FST has 40,000 subscribers.

There’s more on this story here: FST Celebrates 50 Years!

GUEST CONDUCTORS TO LEAD ORCHESTRA

As the search for a new music director continues into another season, the Sarasota Orchestra will once again rely on guest conductors, several of them returning from this past season, for a series of adventurous Masterworks, Pops, Great Escapes and chamber series concerts. “I just wanted to create great programs with wonderful artists, a good balance and enough music that is not heard often and music everybody loves and music that has just been written,” said Peter Oundjian, who has been working with the orchestra as a “creative partner” since the death of Bramwell Tovey, who died of complications from cancer in 2022 just as he was about to start his new job as music director. Oundjian, who will conduct two of the concerts, said he was looking to create a “wonderful variety. I want people to look at the season brochure and say, which of these concerts can I afford to miss.” He worked with RoseAnne McCabe, the vice president of artistic operations, some musicians and other staff to pull together programming for the various concert series, and almost all of the Masterworks concerts will feature at least one new piece of music. Most of the soloists in the Masterworks season also are new to the orchestra. Returning conductors Giancarlo Guerrero, Miguel Harth-Bedoya and

Rune Bergmann will each lead one Masterworks concert. Debuting Masterworks series conductors this season are Shiyeon Sung and Earl Lee, both of whom were assistant conductors in Boston earlier in their careers. Lee is now music director of the Ann Arbor Symphony. McCabe said she likes that each of the programs offers the orchestra a chance to “introduce the audience to new composers and give them a chance to explore them more on their own. There are so many options with YouTube and Spotify, there are so many ways to experience this music, so I love that we give them the appetizers.” Among the new pieces is Peter Boyer’s “Horizons,” which was commissioned by the Sarasota Orchestra, Tucson Symphony and Brevard Symphony to honor retiring artistic administrator Pat Joslyn, who worked for all three organizations during her career. The second Discoveries series concert “Mozart on the Road” will feature 15-year-old pianist Anwen Deng playing Mozart and a new work by 12-year-old composer Isaac Thomas. After the success of last season’s screening of “Star Wars: A New Hope,” with the orchestra performing the score live, this season will feature a similar screening of “The Empire Strikes Back.” “The audience at that program looked like no other audience we ever had,” said CEO and President Joe McKenna. “There’s great interest in these broad range of programs.” Please click on the link for more: Guest Conductors To Lead Orchestra

FUNDING IDEA PROPOSED FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Backers of a new idea for funding the building of affordable and workforce housing say the method could steadily produce large numbers of units by letting growth pay for itself, without hiking taxes. The idea didn’t start with any of the area’s many long-time vocal housing advocates. Instead, it’s the work of Drayton Saunders – president of Sarasota-based Michael Saunders & Co., the largest real estate brokerage in the region. Though he unveiled it several years ago, it is now gaining momentum as employers increasingly struggle to retain and recruit workers due to high housing costs, which have pricedout everyone from nurses and teachers to law enforcement and restaurant staff. Support for the method includes the recent unanimous backing by the board of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce. Meanwhile, Saunders – part of Sarasota County’s Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, or AHAC – has watched his proposal shoot to the top of the committee’s recommendations to area elected officials. His idea is this: Use a percentage of the property tax from new development as a recurring revenue stream to fund a local affordable housing trust fund.“We are in the catbird seat,” Saunders said, about the area’s robust growth. But now, he added, community leaders need to use that growth to the area’s advantage and find ways to keep the region affordable for people who live and work here. “Sometimes your greatest strength is your greatest challenge,” he said. In Saunders’ proposal – adopted by AHAC and now backed by the Chamber – the Sarasota County Commission, in consultation with City of Sarasota officials and other local policymakers, would decide on a percentage to carve out of property tax revenue from new development. That money would be diverted to the county’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund and used to help build new workforce and affordable housing. Though the county has already set up the trust fund, it often sits empty because there’s currently no dedicated revenue source to fill it on a consistent basis. Saunders’ suggested funding method would not entail any change in tax rates at all, he stressed. Nor would property owners see an increase in their tax bills. “Your bill will look the same whether we do this or not,” Saunders said. The benefits of this funding method, Saunders said, include local control and oversight, and a steady and near-guaranteed revenue source as long as there is growth. Please click here for more on this story: Funding Idea Proposed For Affordable Housing