SOTA

SOTA is a new tower that will have 16 stories of luxury residences, hotel suites, and a 4,500-square-foot ground-level restaurant open to the public.  This residence will be east of Orange Avenue, Sarasota Florida’s main road and bustling downtown district. 

Once the SOTA is complete it will be the only hotel on Main Street and one of the tallest structures in Sarasota, Florida east of Five Points.  These luxury residences will range from $1.7 million to $5 million dollars.  

Costing approximately $115 million to build, l the SOTA will have 35 condominium residences spanning six floors, 120 hotel rooms will be managed by Tapestry Collection for the Hilton, and there will be a 4,500-square-foot restaurant on the ground floor.  There will also be a fifth-floor level 15 by 50-foot long pool available to guests. 

The SOTA will sit on nearly an acre on the corner of Goodrich Avenue and Main Street, land that is currently home to three single-story buildings which include: Il Panificio, Main Street Shoe Repair, and the Fringe Spa Salon, which are slated for demolition in May.  Groundbreaking for the SOTA is scheduled for June 2023, and the new building will inherit the Il Panificio address of 1703 Main Street.

Il Panificio will be reinvented when a new restaurant is rebuilt for the SOTA building. It will be a new upscale and creative restaurant to fill the space and reinvent the new SOTA building.  Amenities will be available for residents and guests to have access to and will be located on the fifth level of the building along with the hotel lobby.  There will be private elevators and entry and exit for both the hotel and residences.

The amenities include a restaurant and lounge that will be the centerpiece of the fifth floor for residents and hotel guests only, a pool and an expansive deck with outdoor dining.  There will also be a fitness center and a private residential massage room and a meeting space. 

The two and three-bedroom condos will range in size from 1,800 to 2,500 square feet.  One-bedroom condo units are not included in the site plan.  There will also be five penthouses on the top floor, with a private residential club room, catering kitchen and an outdoor terrace for sunset and water views.

Strong geometry helps to delineate the different functions in the building and also helps to link areas vertically which is how the building which is how architects describe the current plans for the SOTA building.

The building will stand above a four-level 121 space parking structure that will offer valet parking for hotel guests and dedicated parking spaces for the residential units.  Sota will attract people who want to live spontaneously and feel young by embracing life and enjoying the amazing things downtown Sarasota has to offer them.

The new project the SOTA has gained an exception to build up to 16 levels thanks to a city zoning code provision that allows the director of development services to approve up to two buildings that exceed the downtown core height restriction.  Otherwise, the limit on the height of the building downtown would be only 10 stories.  The city has not approved any projects under that regulation since the 2004 adoption of the downtown zoning code.  

Another issue that the SOTA had to face was density.  The plans for its 35 residential units exceeded the maximum density of 25 units per acre allowed in the downtown core, negotiations to purchase the rights to construct more from the neighboring property at 1743 Main Street, owned by the Sarasota Memorial Hospital allow for it.

The SOTA has been described as the first project of many.  Once the construction has started we will look for another piece of land, now that we know the process and have other buildings constructed by this amazing team and it will be something beautiful.