SARASOTA, FLORIDA, June 4, 2018 – Two projects in the pipeline, which include a road expansion and a new mixed property development, bode well for home values and residents of Pine Valley Ranches, Fox Creek Acres, Tatum Ridge, and Founders Club, all located near Fruitville Road.
At the end of this June, a contractor set to be picked by Lakewood Ranch master developer Schroeder Manatee Ranch is expected to break ground on a major connector between University Parkway and Fruitville. This project costing $15 million will focus on the expansion of Wendell Kent Road south to Coburn Road leading out to Fruitville.
Adjacent east of Interstate 75, this stretch of nearly two miles will be widened from two lanes to four. In effect, this roadway when finished will be an extension of Lakewood Ranch Boulevard which currently links southward with Wendell Kent Road.
This road construction project is one of the prerequisites to the Sarasota County Commission’s approval of the plan of the Lakewood Ranch Stewardship District to develop some 5,100 homes at Waterside on the southern flank of the University Parkway. The commission deemed this new road connector necessary in order to cope with the increase in traffic that the residential development would bring.
Along the same vein of pre-empting potential traffic congestion, the Lorraine Road extension from University Parkway in Lakewood Ranch to Fruitville was opened in September last year. Amongst those who directly benefit from this new connector between Sarasota and Lakewood Ranch are residents in the golf communities of Founders Club and Tatum Ridge just west of the 3.5-mile Lorraine extension.
These neighborhoods, along with the nearby equestrienne communities of Fox Creek Acres and Pine Valley Ranches, could likewise get some positive ripple effects from a mixed development project planned on 40 acres on the northeast quadrant of Fruitville Road and Interstate 75.
SD Fruitville Commons LLC, formed by Naples-based Stock Development in January this year, bought this acreage this May for what it calls an “urban lifestyle community.” It is touted as the first live-work-play project under the Fruitville Initiative that Sarasota County approved in 2014 on the 420-acre southeast and northeast quadrants of Fruitville and Interstate 75.
Fruitville Commons is envisioned as a walkable development combining an office park and retail shops with upscale apartment residences and a boutique hotel, all built around a refreshing common green space. For its initial phase, a 300-unit luxury apartment is scheduled for groundbreaking during the third quarter of this year.
Local communities could expect more from the Fruitville Initiative which was passed after workshops and a charette with residents. The initiative is aimed at “smart growth” and has adopted a special zoning to promote well-coordinated economic development in its Fruitville‒Interstate 75 area.
Also geared at creating a new gateway for Sarasota, the Fruitville Initiative likewise adopted its special zoning in order to foster a walkable community environment revolving around land-use diversity and street connectivity to spread traffic. The key components of this strategic thrust include public spaces, such as plazas, parks, and squares. All in all, the initiative is approved for up to 2,064 residences plus 410 hotel rooms and approximately 1.9 million square feet of office, retail and light industrial development.
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>>