Downtown Sarasota bank building sells for $5.75 million

A 3,723-square-foot downtown Sarasota building where Chase will consolidate two local bank branches has sold.

The property, according to the Miami commercial real estate firm Berlin Group, traded hands for $5.75 million.

Berlin did not disclose the buyer, described as a private investor, and Sarasota County property records, as of Wednesday evening, had not been updated.

The seller, according to the county records, was Brightwork Real Estate, a Tampa developer that bought the 1.3-acre parcel at 1836 and 1850 Fruitville Road in 2022 for $4.4 million.

The newly developed building is at the intersection of Fruitville Road and Links Avenue, across the street from the Aster & Links development.

A sales listing on the commercial real estate website Crexi says Chase has a 15-year ground lease in place. The listing shows the property had been on the market for $6.25 million.

Benedict Gutierrez, founder and broker for Berlin, says the branches that are moving into the new building are on Washington Boulevard and Fruitville Road. He could not immediately confirm the addresses, though.

Chase did not respond to a late afternoon email, but an online listing for its downtown branch at 240 N. Washington Blvd. shows it is moving April 26. The listing for the branch at 5341 Fruitville Road says it is only offering modified services at this time.

Gutierrez says the bank’s plan is to consolidate the two existing branches into one “state-of-the-art” location with double drive-thru lanes. According to the listing, the branch will have $253 million in deposits

It is expected to open next week.

The new Chase building is just the latest example of the impact the Aster & Links project — along with several other downtown projects — is expected to have as it brings new life and people to downtown Sarasota.

The development, currently under construction along Main Street and Links Avenue in Sarasota, will be made up of two 10-story residential towers with 424 apartments. There will be 778 parking spaces, and on the ground floor there will be more than 650,000 square feet of retail space.

Sprouts Farmers Market will occupy 23,000 square feet of that retail space.

Aster & Links, which many local residents know as One Main Plaza, is being developed by Connecticut-based Belpointe, a private equity company formed in 2019 to develop properties in federally designated Opportunity Zones.

Belpointe 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. The lead contractor on the project is Suffolk Construction.

Belpointe recently obtained $56 million in financing for the project.