'It's wake-up time'
SARASOTA
Early Sarasotans knew Golden Gate Point as Cedar Point, a
low-lying mangrove area used as a boatyard and sawmill. It was a jungle of
rotting boat hulls when developer Owen Burns acquired it in 1910. Around 1923,
Burns dredged and filled the point to its present size.
Golden Gate became important when Burns and John Ringling, who had bought the
point, teamed up to develop St. Armands, Lido and south Longboat Key. From 1926
to 1959, Golden Gate was the approach for the first Ringling Causeway. Cars
jogged through the point before crossing the bridge. Fireworks were set off from
the point during the 1920s. The Black Cat floating night club was moored off the
eastern shore, and the hedges of Australian pines grew lush along the oval road.
Today, Golden Gate Point is the site of its own downtown
building boom, fueled by its water views and location south of The Ritz-Carlton,
Sarasota. The Phoenix and Golden Bay condominiums are the newest buildings, and
seven new projects are ready to push up the skyline within the 90-foot height
limit on Golden Gate.
"Right next to everything" is the way Angus Rogers sized up Golden Gate Point
when he arrived in Sarasota in 1993.
Rogers has put together the 10-unit, $30-million Grande Riviera project at the
choice southernmost tip of Golden Gate, where the two-story Riviera Apartments,
designed by Ralph Twitchell, have stood since 1941. Taking the "Grande" name
literally, Rogers has priced eight of the 10 units at $2,995,000 to $3.7 million
for 5,213 to 5,582 square feet of living area. Two townhouses of 2,860 square
feet are $1.3 and $1.4 million. Private boat docks for most residences are a
major amenity. Coldwell Banker's Cheryl Loeffler and Bruce Myer have pre-sales
for two of the full-floor penthouses.
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A much-desired property
Right next door, Gary Littlestar and his LHI Group Inc. have an agreement to buy 450 feet on the bay from the Congregation of the Holy Ghost. The long sought-after property, a retirement complex for priests and brothers, will make way for a $70-million gated condominium of 26 units in two buildings. It will be called La BellaSara (a play on "beautiful Sarasota"). Xavier Garcia of the Sarasota architectural firm Las Casitas is designing it, as well as the Grand Riviera.
"The design is Old World classical with Spanish influence. We're
bringing back the 1920s ambience that made Sarasota," said Garcia, who learned
architecture in Ecuador and has been designing in Sarasota for 12 years. "These
buildings will change how architects design condominiums in this town."
The Littlestar project will have four towers (within the 90-foot limits) with
lighted metal domes on top and a courtyard between. Ceilings will be 10 feet
with lots of coffered detailing. Three penthouses of 5,700 square feet will have
two stories each, with some ceilings soaring to 22. Amenities will include game
rooms, media rooms and wine cellars. It will be marketed this season.
"I've always thought what a great spot Golden Gate is. It has
been a sleeper, but it's wake-up time now," said Littlestar, a nine-year
Sarasota resident who took over the development of Rotonda in Charlotte County.
"The buildings will be impressive because the competition is tough."
Within a year, Golden Gate will have an entry comparable to that of The
Ritz-Carlton, said architect Brent Parker, president of Golden Gate's
neighborhood association. The two new projects at the entry will pay for the
improvements.
"We'll use the same pavers as the Ritz and add a landscaped island in the middle. It will look cool, being right across Gulf Stream Avenue from their entry," Parker said.
"Golden Gate is exploding."
Parker is part of that explosion, having designed The Phoenix and bought a unit there. Now he has three more projects there, including two for Jim Bridges, managing partner at The Phoenix. Parker (of Parker-Walter Group) already has designed the two buildings of Vista Bay Point for Bridges. Two softly curving buildings with rotondas on the top, and at the entries will have 17 full-floor units: nine in one building and eight in the other. A 3,000-square-foot amenity level in the east building will have a theater, billiards room, bar, card room, fitness room and guest suite.
"Both buildings have excellent views," Parker said. "The
all-glass living rooms are like being on the bow of a ship."
Michael Saunders & Company has five pre-sales (four of them to locals) in the
$1.1 to $1.8 million range. Remaining units being marketed are $870,000 to $1.6
million. The full-floor units in the west building provide about 3,317 square
feet of living area; 3,000 feet in the east building. Each owner will get a
two-car garage.
"We love living at The Phoenix," Bridges said. "The views are
unsurpassed and we can walk to a number of fine restaurants."
Parker agrees, saying the "views are fabulous. We're a block and a half from
downtown. Sometimes I walk to work."
Bridges' Grand Point building across the street on the interior site will have
14 units: two per floor will be 1,900 square feet and the ninth and tenth floors
will be penthouses of 3,800 square feet. The level above parking will have the
amenities: a theater, bar, card room, guest suite. Bridges expects prices for
the smaller units to range from the mid-$500,000s to the $700,000s.
"This is good value and buyers will get a full amenity package,"
said Bridges, who has not yet priced the penthouses.
Parker said Grand Point will be traditional with real bay windows popping out
and bowling pin-shaped ballustrades on the terraces.
Unnamed projects
A 15-unit condominium, as yet unnamed, is planned at 680 Golden Gate Point, on the east side of the entrance. Parker is designing a full-floor penthouse and two units per floor above two levels of parking and an amenity level. It will have a theater, billiards room, bar, card room, guest suite, pool and spa. Boston developers Mike Miles and John O'Brien purchased the four lots in a transaction handled by Michael Seery and Dale McCallum. Parker says the building will be more contemporary, as is The Phoenix.
Another project, unnamed, is being planned at 258 and 274 Golden
Gate, where two small apartment buildings now stand. It reportedly will add 10
luxury units to the point.
A Cleveland developer has joined Ron Chandler in a new plan for 16 units at Casa
de Mayo, 253-256 Golden Gate Point, an interior site. Two two-level penthouses
of 3,700 square feet will be $1.8 million. The 14 units of 2,750 square feet
will be priced from $735,000. Owners will share a roof garden with pool, spa and
cabanas. Lynn Robbins and Terry Leftwich of Coldwell Banker will market the
project.
Existing inventory
Golden Gate's water views are available without waiting for new
construction. Lynn Robbins is listing a full-floor deluxe unit of 3,600 square
feet with marble floors, fireplace and hurricane shutters for $1,499,000 at 378
Golden Gate Point. This six-unit Renaissance building has boat docks.
Golden Bay has a fifth-floor penthouse of 4,200 square feet with two 28-foot
balconies listed for $1.8 million by Robbins, who marketed the building.
Robbins also has listed two three-bedroom, three-bath Golden Bay resales of
2,100 square feet at $825,000 and $925,000, including two-car garage and use of
the roof deck. Tim Clarke has a Golden Bay unit for sale for $825,000.
'Monumental Old World'
The Grande Riviera is being marketed to boaters who want a large
luxury residence downtown.
"All the true waterfront is going away. No one can obstruct these views,"
Coldwell Banker's Cheryl Loeffler said. "No place between the keys and golf
courses offers this much space. You're downtown, close to everything, but one
step removed on the point."
The townhouse units look toward The Ritz-Carlton and have filtered water views.
Rogers says he has been working a year on the project. It's his first one in
Sarasota, but he has done apartments and senior housing in other parts of the
state, including Orange and Broward counties. An engineer by training, he likes
the design side and asked Garcia, the Las Casitas architect, to make the
building "monumental Old World, evoking the image of Sarasota, yet inviting."
Like a grand hotel, it will have a staircase to the concierge level.
It will have a resort-style pool and spa, cabana/pavilion, landscaping by David W. Johnston, individual double garages and elevators that open directly into residences. Ceilings are 10 feet (12 feet in penthouses) with cove and tray detailing and crown moldings. Waterfront terraces will have private heated spa and summer kitchen. Other amenties: walk-in wine cellars, hurricane-resistant glass, recessed lighting, structured wiring with CAT5 cable, premium Bosch washer and dryer, high-efficiency air-conditioning with air cleaner and programmable thermostats.
Kitchens will have thick granite tops with back splash; premium appliances, including Wolf five-burner electric or gas cooktop; Neff cabinets with center island, recycling containers, spice and silverware drawers and upper cabinet crown molding; and Halogen under-cabinet lighting.
Beautification projects
Besides sprucing up the entry, the Golden Gate association board
is proposing to the city a project to beautify the circle road, which is now 40
feet wide. Parker says it could be narrowed to about 20 feet to provide room for
a sidewalk and landscaped areas jutting into the present roadway at intervals
between defined street parking. Power and phone wires would go underground.
If the city agrees, Golden Gate owners would vote on bonds that they would repay
over 20 years, along with their taxes.
"That would really change the character of the neighborhood,"
Parker said.
That, and the new condominiums.