Biter reviving apartments plan

More than 1,400 new apartments are slated to come online in downtown Sarasota during the next year or so, an explosion of product in a city of roughly 55,000 made possible by macro trends and the city's adoption of a residential overlay district that granted density bonuses to developers.

But to entrepreneur and real estate investor Jesse Biter, the figure remains a little inadequate.

Biter wants to add 97 multifamily units to the downtown mix, part of a $15 million project that would include 250 parking spaces and roughly 6,300 square feet of office space.

The new building on Fruitville Road would supplant an existing two-story garage the Biter Idea Vault LLC acquired for $410,000 in 2012 as part of a package deal involving a four-story office building that today houses the HuB business incubator, the Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County and other concerns.

“I think there's still a housing situation downtown, even with all the new units coming on,” he says. “And we'll have some of the least expensive rates on the market. That's our goal.”
Biter says he hopes to deliver the 1697 Second St. project in 2018.

Several ongoing downtown projects, including 180 units by Atlanta-based Carter Properties, 228 units by Tampa's Framework Group LLC and a 286-project from Greystar, among others, are expected to command rents that have been previously unknown in Sarasota — around $1.75 per square foot or higher.