Upcoming Sarasota event venue partners with Michael’s On East
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jan 23, 2024

The Ora, a 30,000-square-foot event center under construction in Sarasota, has partnered with Michael’s On East to be its exclusive food and beverage caterer.

The facility, designed by architecture firm FleischmannGarciaMaslowski, is being built by the Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee. The leadership and board of the organization recognized the “lack of luxury event space” in the region and sought to create a versatile venue to meet the need, according to a release.

Michael Klauber and Phil Mancini, partners at Michael’s On East, have agreed to provide their services at the site, 578 McIntosh Road, for everything from intimate gatherings to conferences and weddings. The facility includes a 9,500-square-foot ballroom with the flexibility to divide the room into smaller spaces. The ballroom can accommodate gatherings of up to 1,000 people.

“From the start of our conceptualization of The Ora, Phil Mancini and Michael Klauber provided ideas that helped shape the vision of The Ora,” Larry Haspel, a Jewish Federation board member, said in a release. “They shared our values and understood what the needs of this community have been and will be going forward. This is a partnership made in heaven.”

One of the unique elements of the facility is the extensive audiovisual capabilities throughout, including projection mapping technology. The technology will be able to transform the building into a marketplace in France, a concert arena in Las Vegas or floating in the vastness of space.

The facility will be open for its first event in February and is 4 miles from downtown Sarasota. The property includes more than 400 parking spaces. Tandem Construction is the general contractor for the project. When complete, it will be one of West Central Florida’s largest and most technologically advanced venues, according to the release.

“We have already booked a number of outstanding events for 2024 and beyond,” Deanna McGrath, director of operations for The Ora, said in a release. “It’s crucial that we are best in class in everything we do. Partnering with Michael’s On East as our exclusive food and beverage caterer matches the high level of quality we are infusing into every aspect of our venue.”