A familiar downtown Sarasota building has officially been cleared for a major transformation.
The Sarasota City Commission unanimously approved zoning changes for the former Sarasota County Administration Center at 1660 Ringling Boulevard.
The six-story building has stood downtown since 1973, but its previous zoning restrictions made a meaningful renovation difficult. The newly approved changes allow Benderson Development to pursue an adaptive-reuse project that could expand portions of the building to as many as 10 stories.
The vision includes modern Class A office space with the potential for street-level restaurants, retail and other commercial uses—bringing new activity to this section of Ringling Boulevard near downtown and Laurel Park.
This approval does not mean that a final design or construction timeline has been announced. It creates the zoning framework needed for the redevelopment to move forward.
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