Downtown Sarasota development gets $130 million construction loan

The developer behind the One Main Plaza project in downtown Sarasota has secured $130 million in construction financing.

Belpointe, which is building the major development on Main Street and Links Avenue, said Wednesday it got the construction loan through Bank OZK. Terms were not disclosed.

In a statement announcing the financing Belpointe Cos. CEO Brandon Lacoff says “this financing milestone showcases the strong support and confidence of the lending community in our vision.”

That vision is Aster & Links. The project is at 1991 Main St. on the site of the former 259,000-square-foot Main Plaza at the eastern gateway to downtown next to Regal Cinemas’ Hollywood 11 theater. It is made up of two 10-story buildings with a total of 424 units ranging from one- to three-bedroom apartments to four-bedroom town home-style penthouses. The high rises will include a seven-story building at the front of the development and a 10-story building in the rear.

The project also includes 900 parking spaces.

Among its other amenities will be a roof top space with a private dining areas and outdoor grills as well as a center courtyard with a heated saltwater pool.

News of the financing comes about two weeks after Belpointe announced it had leased 23,000 square feet of ground floor retail space for 10 years to grocer Sprouts Farmers Market.

Belpointe is a private equity company formed in 2019 to develop properties in federally designated Opportunity Zones. It acquired 8.6 acres of the roughly 10-acre Main Plaza site in December 2019 — its first acquisition since its creation and initial public offering earlier that year — for $20 million.

Main Plaza dates to 1985, when another Sarasota investment group led by developer Mark Kauffman and attorney David Band revamped the site and brought in new office and retail tenants.

Main Plaza, though, struggled to keep tenants, with several restaurants, including Applebee’s, Ker’s Wing House and a YMCA branch closing.