SARASOTA, FLORIDA, September 28th, 2015 – What a difference does a grove of palm trees make? A lot, if these are in downtown Sarasota where a streetscape improvement project for North Palm Avenue has been painstakingly revised to consider, among other things, the preservation of 26 palm trees.
These trees, which lord over North Palm’s intersection with Cocoanut Avenue and just behind the 15-story Bay Plaza Condominium, partly date back to the early 1900s and are certainly iconic of downtown Sarasota’s growth over the years. Saving the palm grove was integrated into the streetscape project through the effort of concerned citizens led by local environment activist Jono Miller, also a member of the county’s Environmentally Sensitive Land Protection Committee.
The North Palm Avenue streetscape improvement project was initiated by the Sarasota Downtown Improvement District (DID). Following the resolution on citizens’ concern on preserving the nearly century old palm trees, the project’s overall plan is now being fine-tuned to fully address flooding issues. This project is likewise geared toward sidewalk widening and replicating the landscaping improvements on the other side of Palm Avenue.
At the South Palm stretch, the DID completed in September 2012 an upgrade of the avenue’s streetscape,vastly improving its aesthetics with the addition of new plants and trees. The upgrades here likewise included wide, brick-paved sidewalks, making South Palm not only more pedestrian-friendly. Such a makeover is also an added delight to Sarasota condos for sale in this area, such as those at the Echelon on Palm, DeMarcay, and South Palm Residences currently being marketed pre-construction along this downtown avenue.
A cohesive plan implementation for the Palm Avenue streetscape is necessary, officials say, given the major transformation that this street block is undergoing. The facelift transforming this locality goes beyond the recent addition of the parking garage at Palm Avenue. Just in August 2015, the 139-room, 10-story hotel Sarasota Aloft of the One Palm project, at the flanks of Ringling Blvd. and McAnsh Square, opened for business. Additionally, the One Palm complex includes 141 apartment units.
Besides several residential condominiums rising in this locality, another hotel is on the drawing boards at the corner of Palm and Cocoanut Avenues. A boutique hotel by Floridays Development has been approved here. The one-story commercial building behind the “rescued” palm grove near this intersection may also be redeveloped soon.
Property brokers and real estate agents are also viewing with keen interest the slated construction of a roundabout at the intersection of Palm and Cocoanut Avenues. This project going in harmony with the North Palm Avenue streetscape upgrades, after all, should provide added impetus to market interest in Sarasota condos for sale in this section of the downtown district, both for pre-construction and units already built.
For move-in ready Sarasota condos for sale, the 35-unit Palm Place on 755 South Palm Avenue currently has available two-bedroom, 1,421 square-foot-units priced starting at around the $500s. Luxury choices are offered at the pre-construction at South Palm Residences, DeMarcay and Echelon at the Palm where the million-dollar price ranges equate with the vigilant stewardship of Palm Avenue’s streetscape and greenspace.
SARASOTA, FLORIDA, October 7, 2019 – Property values of communities in the Sarasota-Manatee region now face lesser threat from neighborhood eyesores brought about by abandoned, foreclosed homes. Known in the real estate trade as zombie foreclosures, these properties have shrunk significantly in the region. According to an August report of ATTOM Data Solutions, abandoned […] more>>