Buyers to transform historic building to upscale music house and social club

SARASOTA — A nearly 100-year-old commercial building in downtown Sarasota, which once housed the office of Charles Ringling, is about to undergo a major makeover.

The building at 1927 Ringling Blvd., off of Main Street and next to a parking garage, has been sold for $2.1 million and will be restored and transformed into an upscale music venue and social club that will be called SRQUS. The name, not surprisingly, is pronounced circus.

According to Ian Black Real Estate, the brokerage for the seller, it has been empty since 2021, when the Sarasota Sky Bar & Club shut down after about five years.

The 11,720-square-foot building was constructed in 1926 and early on housed the Triangle Drug Store and Clarence Saunders Grocery as tenants on the ground floor. Ringling’s office, along with other offices, was on the second.

Ringling died in December 1926, and the building, according to Sarasota History Alive!, was sold by his widow, Edith, in January 1945 to Dolores Barth. Along with her husband, William V. Barth, who had died, Dolores Barth owned and operated Barth’s IGA, which was Saunders grocery until 1930. The Barth family ran the store until 1953.

The building has been occupied by a series of restaurants and nightclubs since the 1950s.

Renovations are expected to begin in May, and, if all goes according to schedule, SRQUS will open early next year, according to a statement. The buyer, Civil Creative Agency, will work with Sarasota-based Bay Area Creative to restore the property and manage it when it reopens, the statement adds. 

The plans for the renovation include a new mezzanine level for VIPs, a top-floor speakeasy-like social club and a restoration of the cupola. The space, when finished, will hold 300 to 500 people depending on the configuration needed for an event.

Civil Creative Agency recently relocated to Sarasota from Atlanta. Sam Tesh, the company’s CEO, says in the press release that the company feels it is “bringing a unique concept to this community.

“This space will be a beautiful, world-class yet intimate music venue showcasing notable talent, with a focused mission on doing tangible good in the Sarasota community.”