Windward Design Group inks enormous Sarasota industrial lease

Outdoor furniture maker Windward Design Group has signed a 281,276-square-foot lease for a mixed-use building in southern Manatee County, one of the largest deals ever recorded in the Sarasota/Manatee submarket.

Windward will consolidate seven locations totaling about 150,000 square feet when it relocates to 2150 Whitfield Ave. this summer.

The building, which is owned by Daylion LLC — a partnership comprised of Carlos Alamo, Corrado Ruscica and Jose Ruscica, of Coral Gables — was completed in 1967 and expanded beginning in 1990. Furniture manufacturer Casual Creations had begun leasing the building in 2007.

Daylion acquired the property in 2014 for $6.05 million, records show.

Outdoor Brands, which is currently occupying a portion of 2150 Whitfield, is relocating to roughly 120,000 square feet elsewhere in the region next month.

“This represents a huge step up for Windward,” says Jag Grewal, a partner in Sarasota commercial real estate brokerage firm Ian Black Real Estate, who represented Daylion in the negotiations.

“This should be a big boost for their operations, in no small part because this building was purposely constructed for outdoor furniture manufacturing, from the ways materials are received to the way parts are welded, everything.”

Windward, which has been in business for a quarter century, was represented in the deal by commercial real estate brokerage JLL’s Gary Godsey and Scott Altieri.

The company expects to fully occupy its new building and be completely operational there, with a new furniture showroom, by the end of this year.