The fate of the century-plus-old US Garage could be headed to court.
By Derek Gilliam/Suncoast Searchlight
Original Air Date: May 29, 2026
Host: The fate of a more than century-old downtown Sarasota building could be headed to court. In a last-ditch effort, a preservation group is trying to stop the historic U.S. Garage building in the Burns Court area from being razed for luxury condos. Derek Gilliam with Suncoast Searchlight has the story.
Derek Gilliam: Members of the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation are saying city officials sidestepped the public review process that’s typically required before potentially historic structures can be demolished. A developer wants to demolish the US Garage building to make way for two luxury high-rise towers. But Alliance members say their request for demolition permits should have undergone a formal historic review.
Instead, the city relied on a single unsigned form, attributed to former historic preservation chief Clifford Smith. That form determined the building was not historically significant. And this, in turn, allowed the project to move forward administratively without a public hearing before the Historic Preservation Board.
A historical photograph of the US Garage building from 1948. | Photo courtesy of Lorrie Muldowney via Suncoast Searchlight
The determination was made before the current owners bought the property. Smith died in 2024, and that makes it impossible to verify details surrounding the review now at the center of the dispute.
The dispute is the latest in a series of recent attempts by residents to save historic buildings and ward off the new luxury high-rises trying to replace them.
Sarasota historian Jeff LaHurd:
Jeff LaHurd: I think the reason—and I agree with him—that he thought it was a proper thing to do for the city was because iconic buildings like the U.S. Garage are few and far between anywhere in Florida. If you can save them in one way or another, you add to the uniqueness of a particular place like Sarasota, which used to be totally unique but now has just gotten to be a haven for high-rise condominiums and office buildings. And, frankly, I think it’s lost both its uniqueness and its charm because of that.
DG: After assembling the sites for $26 million in 2024 and 2025, the Lutgert Companies plans to turn the U.S. Garage building and a large parking lot nearby into two high-rise towers—one at 18 stories for luxury condos and another 10-story apartment building.
The development would line Pineapple Avenue, where U.S. Garage is located, and take over the corner of Ringling Boulevard and Palm Avenue. The project would also include about 30,000 square feet of commercial space.
The Naples-based developer has used a controversial state law known as the Live Local Act to bypass downtown height restrictions. Lutgert also tapped the city’s density bonuses to pack nearly 190 units on just over 2 acres.
The Adagio is currently under review by the Sarasota Development Review Committee. | Screen capture of a city development application via Suncoast Searchlight
Live Local requires eligible builders to set aside a certain portion of units as “attainable housing.” The property, now marketed as The Adagio, will offer just eight units for renters earning less than the region’s area median income. The remaining 68 “attainable” units would be priced for residents making 120%, or about $130,000 for a family of four.
But it’s not the scale of the development that has upset members of the Alliance for Historic Preservation. It’s the city’s unwillingness to acknowledge the structure as a historic property—and the absence of any public discussion prior to sealing its fate.
Lorrie Muldowney, a past president of the Alliance, said the city’s processes require a review any time a demolition permit is requested. That would mean another review should have occurred in late 2025.
No documentation of such a review was included in records reviewed by Suncoast Searchlight.
Sarasota officials say they followed proper procedures in the demolition permit application. They point to previous surveys in 2003 and 2010, when the property was deemed ineligible for local or national historic designation.
Robert K. Lincoln, a Sarasota attorney representing the developer, also defended the demolition permit. He said his client made sure the property wouldn’t qualify for historic status prior to closing on the land and argued that allowing the Alliance to challenge the permit could create a bureaucratic blueprint applied far wider than just this case.
The U.S. Garage Building was built in 1925 and was named to the Sarasota Alliance of Historic Preservation’s “Six to Save” structures last year. | Photo by Derek Gilliam via Suncoast Searchlight
Lincoln told Suncoast Searchlight the current owners walked the property with the city’s former historic preservation expert before purchasing the building to make sure they were on the same page.
He said the Alliance is taking what should be a voluntary decision to designate a building as historic and forcing it to be recognized as such. That, in turn, could impact the rights of property owners throughout the city.
The Alliance argues that there is a lack of documentation. The current demolition permit contains just a single sheet of paper. There’s no written explanation of why the building doesn’t qualify as historically significant, and since the reviewer died in 2024, it’s impossible to verify details with him.
The Alliance took its case to the city’s Board of Adjustment late last month, but the group was never able to publicly argue the merits of the case. The board denied them standing to appeal the permit.
Morgan Bentley, a lawyer hired by the nonprofit, confirmed to Suncoast Searchlight that his firm is preparing an appeal in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court that will be filed in the coming weeks. Lorrie Muldowney of the Alliance:
Lorrie Mudowney: We were not able to make a case, nor has the public had an opportunity because this comes under administrative site plan review. I’m not real strong on that whole process. But I do know that, at the Board of Adjustment meeting, there were neighbors who said, “We didn’t know. We haven’t had a chance to comment.” When will that happen?
DG: U.S. Garage was added to the Alliance’s annual list only recently. But it faces the biggest threat of the six buildings the nonprofit has focused on this year, with a permit already in hand and a project moving through the city’s Development Review Committee.
The US Garage Building at 330 S. Pineapple Avenue in downtown Sarasota was built with a functional elevator in 1925. The mechanical bones of that elevator still exist today. | Photo by Derek Gilliam via Suncoast Searchlight
The two-story building was once a state-of-the-art garage with an elevator. This allowed wealthy residents to lift their cars to the second floor, securing fleets of expensive vehicles over the hot summer months when their owners left to return north. The Alliance contends the building was the first garage in Sarasota and possibly the first in the state.
Frank Folsom Smith, a famous architect and former owner of the building, completed a rehabilitation of US Garage in 1982 that converted the building into offices.
But it has proved tough to save.
Derek Gilliam, reporting for Suncoast Searchlight. To read my full story, go to suncoastsearchlight.org/sarasota-historic-preservation-us-garage-pineapple.
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