Ronto Group adds to Lido Beach site

The Ronto Group, as part of a plan to develop a five-star, hotel-branded condominium tower in Sarasota, acquired the Coquina on the Beach hotel on June 1 for $15 million, property records show.

The acquisition of the 34-unit, three-building Coquina property, at 1008 Benjamin Franklin Dr., comes five months after the Naples-based firm bought the Gulf Beach Resort Motel next door for $24.5 million.

Coquina was completed on 1.4 acres in 1946; the 49-unit Gulf Beach at 930 Benjamin Franklin in 1955. In all, the combined site measures 3.5 acres.

Ronto Group, which completed the 18-story 624 Palm condo tower in Sarasota in 2019, intends to construct a 70-unit condo complex in place of the aging Lido Beach lodging properties.

A company spokesman says the Coquina property will “be used in conjunction with the other land” and that there will be no changes brought by the latest purchase.

Prices for the new units are expected to range from $2 million to $15 million, Ronto Group owner Anthony Solomon indicated earlier this year. Marketing on the new project, which is being designed for nine floors above parking and will contain a private beach club and other amenities, is expected to begin later this year or early in 2022.

In addition to the Lido Beach project, Ronto Group is working on a handful of new residential developments with seven-figure unit prices located from Tampa to Naples.

In Tampa, the firm is about to start construction on the 22-story, 73-unit Altura Bayshore. In Bonita Springs, it is planning to build Omega Bonita Bay, a 26-story tower with 67 condos. Adjacent to that tower, Ronto Group is constructing Seaglass at Bonita Bay, another 26-story offering with 120 units.

And in its home base of Naples, Ronto Group in February began work on the second of three planned buildings at Eleven Eleven Central, with 72 units, and the company is preparing to commence construction on Quattro, the fourth phase of the larger Naples Square development.