Developer denied air rights for condo tower
Decision could result in 2 buildings instead of one
A Sarasota County circuit judge has ruled that a luxury condo developer cannot buy the “air rights” in a Sarasota bayfront development, which will send the long-planned high-rise project back to the drawing board, unless the ruling is overturned on appeal.
Representatives for Quay 1 and 9 LLC, the development company behind One Park Sarasota, said Monday they have been working on an alternative development plan that would result in two buildings on the property instead of the one that had been planned if the judge’s ruling did not favor them.
“When revealed, these iconic communities will underscore our commitment to re-defining luxury living on the west coast of Florida,” said Kevin Maloney of Property Markets Group, the lead developer of One Park. “Updated building plans will be released in 2023 and our team is looking forward to presenting the project to the city of Sarasota for administrative approval early in 2024.”
“We will offer current One Park buyers the first opportunity to be part of our two new, iconic communities before sales open to the public.”
While exact details about the developers plans are not available, documents prepared by the developer for an earlier city review meeting stated a twobuilding project would be taller and more dense. Development rights on the two-acre property allow for 300 condo units on one block and a 175-unit hotel in the other block, according to the documents.
One Park Sarasota — first announced in late 2021 — had proposed an 123-unit luxury condominium overlooking The Bay Park along U.S. 41 in downtown Sa
rasota. The 18-story condo building plan capitalized on the strong real estate market coming out of the COVID pandemic to sign up prospective buyers for about 60% of the units.
However, to build the project as planned, the developers proposed joining two blocks in The Quay by constructing part of the condo tower over the main spine road in the bayfront development, sparking opposition.
Soon after the sales effort for One Park began, opponents from a developed block of The Quay hired two law firms — Bentley Goodrich Kison and the law office of Robert K. Lincoln — resulting in emails to the city in which the condo board for the Quay’s Ritz Carlton Residences asserted the project could not be built as proposed. They said the air rights above the site were already held by all owners in the development.
Those arguments ultimately led to a trial before Circuit Judge Hunter Carroll, who ruled that a master declaration from 2018 required the master developer — Quay Venture LLC — to deed common areas when they are developed, including the air rights above the land, to the owners within the development.
Both Quay Venture and Quay 1 and 9 argued that the air rights were never common areas and that another project had already built over Quay Commons, the spine road, noting that if the judge ruled against them, the nearly complete Bayso Sarasota, could face a lawsuit to have that structure torn down.
Carroll determined the portion of Quay Commons at issue at trial was “developed” on April 30, 2021, and that the master developer should have turned over the air rights and the deed to a master association then. That would mean Quay Venture could not sell the air rights to the One Park developers, according to the judge’s final order filed Monday morning.
Carroll’s ruling declined to decide whether it should have been allowed, given the language in the master declaration, while noting he did not need to decide that matter since it was not before the court.
“Even if the Bayso Breezeway’s construction were improper under the Master Declaration—which the Court does
not find or imply — that does not justify a tunnel between Blocks 1 and 9,” the final order stated.
Morgan Bentley, a founding partner of Bentley Goodrich Kison, was the litigating attorney for the Block 6 Condominium Association, said he was pleased with the outcome.
At times the developers of One Park Sarasota and the condo board Bentley represented accused each other of behaving inappropriately through repeated emails or contacts with city officials and elected representatives.
Bentley commended his clients for staying the course and the court for the outcome.
“It’s never easy to take on a deeppocketed developer, but Block 6 had the fortitude to do so even though individuals associated with the One Park team attempted to cast Block 6 and its intentions in false light,” he said. “Despite those aggressive actions, Block 6 was unwavering in its commitment to stand up for what’s right.”
It is not immediately clear what the ruling means for a planned City Commission public hearing on One Park, which was scheduled for Dec. 5 after the Sarasota Planning Board recommended the project be denied.