SARASOTA – A downtown apartment building originally pitched under the banner of affordable housing may go forward with a new developer.
But whether any of the apartments will wind up being affordable is another matter.
On Monday, the City Commission agreed to let Atlanta-based developer Carter Acquisitions, LLC, move forward with a 10-story apartment building downtown without paying into the city’s affordable housing trust fund.
Those payments had been a condition of the city’s original agreement seven years ago that allowed the increased density for the building. But commissioners voted to set it aside, even though some were troubled that the idea of “affordability” had been cast aside. Rents for the building’s one-bedroom units are expected to start at $1,100.
The $46 million project had originally been pitched by software entrepreneur Jesse Biter, who planned to build 168 apartments and retail space at the former United Way building on Second Street. The development had been much anticipated partly because of Biter’s claims that higher density and more affordable housing were essential to a healthy downtown.