‘Saravela’ offers 271 units, including 40 attainable rentals.
By Ramon Lopez
Original Air Date: July 30, 2025
Host: An Illinois developer wants to build a twin-tower luxury condominium with some attainable apartments, covering much of one block on the North Trail near downtown Sarasota. Ramon Lopez has the details.
Ramon Lopez: Step by step, the two-tower Saravela mixed-use development, with both luxury condos and a decent amount of affordable rentals, continues to creep towards a grand opening. That’s anticipated in two years, says GSP Development.
The Saravela’s two towers are different heights because each is set to be built in a differently-zoned area.
A cog in the wheel is sign-off by the City of Sarasota Development Review Committee, or DRC, for short. It meets twice a month to coordinate and analyze requests for development approval, such as rezonings and site plans. Its recommendations go to the city commissioners.
The DRC is composed of city staffers from various departments, such as police, fire and city engineering. The group provides real estate developers feedback on: pre-applications, zoning text amendments, city projects and proposals and real estate development applications.
The suburban Chicago-based company is no stranger to Sarasota. But the firm lost a legal battle over a luxury hotel it wanted to erect on Siesta Key.
GSP Development now seeks to build Saravela, as in the combination of “Sarasota” and the Spanish word for “candle.”
It would take up 1.7 acres at North Tamiami Trail between Fourth and Fifth streets, where there’s a long-underutilized alley and eight existing buildings, including the previous home of the Toasted Mango Café.
The Fourth Way alley needed to be vacated for the project to proceed. That issue cleared a major hurdle on May 19 when the city commissioners voted in favor of the developer’s request to vacate and realign a portion of the alley.
The construction site straddles two zone districts, Downtown Core and Downtown Bayfront. Rather than pursue a rezoning, GSP Sarasota addressed height limitations with an 11-story tower in the Downtown Core and 18 stories in the Downtown Bayfront.
Saravela will have 271 living units, 40 of them designated attainable rentals, an increase of 10. The project also includes 11 two-story townhomes and 11,000 square feet of retail area. The market-rate condos will reportedly cost $1 million to $3 million each.
This is Ramon Lopez for WSLR News.
WSLR News aims to keep the local community informed with our 1/2 hour local news show, quarterly newspaper and social media feeds. The local news broadcast airs on Wednesdays and Fridays at 6pm.