Jacksonville developer pursuing prime waterfront parcel in downtown Sarasota
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Nov 14, 2014

A Jacksonville developer appears to be pursuing a waterfront project in downtown Sarasota.

GreenPointe Holdings LLC has asked the city to clarify the zoning of Sarasota Quay, a 15-acre parcel on Sarasota Bay, west of U.S. 41, between the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota and Hyatt Regency Sarasota.

Zoning clarifications are a typical part of due diligence before closing on a commercial property, so that a developer or investor knows exactly what they're buying. A GreenPointe spokeswoman declined comment Friday morning. See Also

The land, which has sat vacant since 2007, is owned by a lender that foreclosed after an Irish developer's plans to build a large mixed-use project on the site collapsed along with the real estate market. GreenPointe was working a deal to buy the land earlier this year, but that fell through, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

It's an attractive time to pursue a waterfront deal in Sarasota. The city is seeing residential growth on its coasts and in its downtown, as well as an influx of Millennials, both driven by the city's thriving cultural scene.

If a deal comes to fruition, GreenPointe wouldn't be the only developer pursuing a project in downtown Sarasota. Kolter Group is under construction on a $300 million residential-and-hotel project at the corner of Gulfstream Boulevard and US 41 in downtown Sarasota - not far from the Quay.

Ashley Gurbal Kritzer is a reporter for the Tampa Bay Business Journal.