Florida’s Live Local Act may allow the developers to proceed regardless.
Ramon Lopez
Original Air Date: March 7, 2025
Host: It’s called Adagio, which describes a slow tune. But the developer proposing this massive condo project, filling most of a block in downtown Sarasota, has quickly prompted heckles. The two-tower structure—one of them rising up to 18 floors—would be taller and denser than zoning allows. The legal mechanism brought into play by the developer is Florida’s Live Local Act, as Ramon Lopez reports.
Visualization of the Adagio condo complex viewed from the northwest.
Ramon Lopez: DT Sarasota LLC this past Wednesday submitted preliminary plans to the City of Sarasota’s Development Review Committee for a massive real estate project named Adagio in the Downtown Core area.
Joel Freedman, the agent for the Adagio team, told the panel members that the project was complex.
Joel Freedman: It’s a complicated project, for sure.
RL: His presentation was just the first step in getting the building approved, but the development group—which includes Naples-based developers Lutgert Cos., Barron Collier, and R&P Holdings—is already facing public opposition to it.
Map showing the proposed site of the Adagio, which would cover most of a block.
We hear from Dean Scarborough, who lives in the Sansara, the 10-story luxury condo at 300 Pineapple Ave., which would be near-surrounded on three sides by the Adagio.
Dean Scarborough: Frankly, it’s an abomination. I urge the City Commission to evaluate if Live Local genuinely meets Sarasota’s needs in addressing the affordable housing issues in this city. It’s crucial to maintain a zoning plan that reflects the expectations of residents while genuinely addressing the affordable housing crisis.
RL: The public outcry comes from the fact that the project was hatched using Florida’s Live Local Act, which could preclude application of Sarasota’s housing regs and building codes. A 2.24 acre site in question involves Ringling Boulevard, Palm Avenue and South Pineapple. The Adagio would replace the U.S. garage building and a parking lot belonging to the Church of the Redeemer. The site is zoned Downtown Core, which allows for only 10-story buildings versus 18 floors allowed on the Downtown Bay Front. The developer plans to build two buildings with a connecting podium. The lower levels of the podium would be used for structured parking. There would be retail space.
Bird’s-eye visualization of the Adagio, viewed from the east.
The western building would be 18 stories and made up of 100 luxury condos. The eastern tower would be nine stories facing Pineapple Avenue, and consisting of 67 rental units dubbed “attainable” to meet Live Local requirements. The state law would give the developer the right to put up an 18-story tower in the 10-story zone.
The height of this project matches that of a 18-story condo complex called the 1260 North Palm Residences, also known as the Obsidian. Opponents of that controversial project have appealed a go-ahead for that tall tower to the City Commission.
The Live Local Act was created in 2023 to spur workforce and affordable housing. It provides tax breaks for developers and also relaxes local zoning regs and bypasses local rules on density caps and the height restrictions for some multi-family housing. But it mandates that at least 40 percent of the housing units be set aside as affordable for people making up to 120 percent of the local area median income.
Bird’s-eye visualization of the Adagio, viewed from the south.
Freedman says the number of attainable units meets the 40 percent threshold.
The new law could preclude local governments from blocking developers’ plans that otherwise meet qualifications and regulations. Applications could be administratively approved. So Sarasota city commissioners might not get a vote on the matter.
But several Florida cities and counties have opted out or modified their Live Local standards.
An unresolved issue that came up in the DRC meeting, which might block the building project, was the building’s overall height. Noah Fossick, the city’s chief planner, said said the parking structure as currently designed does not pass muster. Therefore, he said, each level of parking and the basements should contribute to the overall height of the building. So, as envisioned, the high tower is 21 stories and must be reduced by at least three.
Joel Freedman challenged Fossick’s assessment.
JF: The way this is currently laid out on Pineapple, we are below the street level. We have basement level one and we have basement level two. This has now been divided into two basement levels.
RL: This is Ramon Lopez for WSLR News.
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