Sarasota luxury waterfront condo project receives $173M loan

An uber-luxury oceanfront condo development on Lido Key in Sarasota — with some units initially being marketed for more than $15 million — has obtained $173.5 million in construction financing.

The project, with 65 units, is named Rosewood Residences Lido Key. The developer is The Ronto Group, based in Naples, in partnership with Greenwich, Connecticut-based real estate investment firm Wheelock Street Capital. 

Real estate firm JLL Capital Markets represented The Ronto Group and Wheelock Street Capital to secure the loan through Bank OZK, according to a statement. 

The 3.5-acre property is at 930 Benjamin Franklin Drive, directly on Lido Key Beach, and is steps to the St. Armands Circle shopping district. The site was previously home to a pair of hotels that were subsequently demolished. The Ronto Group paid $15 million for Coquina on the Beach in June 2021 and $24.5 million for the Gulf Beach Resort Motel in February 2021, Sarasota County property records show.

Units range in size from 3,300 square feet to 5,000 square feet. Each unit, the release states, is serviced by private elevators and is designed with oversized living rooms, 11-foot ceilings, gourmet kitchens, spacious baths, terraces and private garages. 

Community amenities will include a fully staffed residents-only beach club with a pool pavilion bar and zero-edge swimming pool; a residents-only bistro cafe, full bar, full dining service and separate main dining area accessible to a third-level pool deck with a second zero-edge swimming pool and spa; a world-class fitness center; a staffed owner’s lounge; a game room lounge; a children’s playroom; a bocce lawn; a 12-seat movie theater; and an expansive pet park with pet care options.

The price points are $5.9 million to $15.3 million per unit, a sales official from The Ronto Group told the Observer Media Group late last year.  

The project, under the Rosewood Hotels and Resorts flag, a unit of Hong Kong-based Rosewood Hotel Group, marks the first time the Rosewood brand will have a standalone residential project not connected to a hotel. It’s also the first significant development on Lido Key since 2005, according to officials with the project.  The project is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2025.

“The Ronto Group and Wheelock Street Capital continue to redefine the pinnacle of luxury along the west coast of Florida by finding irreplaceable development sites,” JLL Capital Markets Debt Advisory team Senior Managing Director Steven Klein says in the statement. “It’s incredible to partner with such a luxurious brand and to build Rosewood’s first exclusively residential-branded property.”