Sarasota Station, a long-stalled workforce housing plan on Fruitville Road, officially broke ground Thursday morning, marking a major milestone for a project that has been more than a decade in the making and is now moving forward under Florida’s Live Local Act.
Planned for 2211 Fruitville Road and 300 Audubon Place next to Park East in downtown Sarasota, Sarasota Station will deliver 202 income-restricted apartments in what One Stop Housing has described as the City of Sarasota’s first Live Local Act project to break ground. The development will be built as two six-story L-shaped buildings with a separate clubhouse and outdoor amenities that include a basketball court, dog park and dog-washing station. The site connects directly to the Legacy Trail and is within walking distance of downtown.
The project is structured as 100 percent workforce housing, with rents restricted for 30 years. Eligibility will generally be limited to tenants earning between 60 percent and 80 percent of the area median income, with Sarasota Station’s unit mix including 45 studios, 79 one-bedrooms and the remaining units as two-bedrooms. Under Resilient SRQ funding requirements, 51 percent of the units will be reserved for residents at 60 percent AMI or below, with the remainder capped at 80 percent AMI. Based on 2025 HUD income limits, 60 percent–80 percent AMI translates to annual income limits of $45,240 to $86,100 for households of one to four, with maximum rents (including utilities) ranging from $1,131 to $2,153 per month…