HR Green’s Florida team has contributed to two Sarasota developments recognized for thoughtful planning, efficient land use, and meaningful community benefits: Florida Studio Theatre’s McGillicuddy Arts Plaza and Bahia Vista Apartments. The awards were presented during the Florida Planning & Zoning Association’s annual conference in Sarasota.
Florida Studio Theatre’s McGillicuddy Arts Plaza received the Outstanding Arts & Cultural Development award. The award recognizes the project’s role in supporting a thriving cultural institution while responding to several practical needs within a constrained downtown setting.
Currently under construction, the 144,323-square-foot mixed-use development will expand Florida Studio Theatre’s campus adjacent to the historic Gompertz Theatre, adding two Parisian-style cabarets and a main-stage theatre on the first two levels to strengthen year-round programming. The project also meets critical infrastructure needs by providing 125 off-street parking spaces and 57 residential units to offer accessible downtown housing for traveling performers and production crews. By integrating cultural space, parking, and housing into a single eight-level development, the project makes efficient use of a vacant urban site while supporting Sarasota’s arts economy.
Bahia Vista Apartments received the Outstanding Redevelopment: Reuse of a Site, Facility or Structure award, representing another significant Sarasota redevelopment effort. The four-story, 250-unit residential community reimagines the vacant six-acre former Doctors Hospital site at 2750 Bahia Vista Street, transforming a long-unused property into a new housing option outside the downtown core.
The project leverages Sarasota’s density incentives to deliver 35 attainable workforce housing units near major hospital infrastructure while adaptively reusing an existing 1960s-era, 400-space parking garage, reducing construction waste and maximizing the value of an existing asset. The site plan improves circulation and community integration by limiting vehicle access to Briggs Avenue and southbound South Tuttle Avenue, helping manage traffic near the prominent South Tuttle Avenue and Bahia Vista Street intersection, while landscaping and site buffers provide transitions to surrounding properties.
The HR Green team supporting the projects includes Mark Mueller as project manager and Devyn Brown as engineer of record. Through its work on projects such as these, HR Green’s Florida team continues to help clients navigate complex land development challenges and create solutions that strengthen communities over the long term.
