Sarasota Military Academy’s 5-Acre Downtown Campus For Sale

Updated: 2:44 p.m., Friday

SARASOTA, FL — The nearly 5-acre Sarasota Military Academy campus in the city's Rosemary District is being offered for sale, creating one of the larger redevelopment opportunities in downtown Sarasota, according to a news release from Michael Saunders & Company Commercial, which was hired to market the sale.

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The property, at 801 N. Orange Ave., was most recently valued land at nearly $17.1 million earlier this year by the Sarasota County Property Appraiser's office. The property's market value was at more than $31 million.

The news release didn't include the asking price for the parcel.

"Based on a number of development factors, we feel the value falls somewhere between these two figures [$17.1 million and $31 million,]" Lee DeLieto Jr., who is representing the school in the sale, told Patch. "The final number will come down to the developer/buyer's per-unit cost determined by their underwriting formula, and thus an offer ultimately being accepted by the seller."

The Orange Avenue property currently serves as the high school campus for the Sarasota Military Academy, a tuition-free public charter school serving students in grades 6 through 12.

The school plans to consolidate its middle and high school operations at its Bethel Lane campus east of Interstate 75.

The land is zoned Downtown Edge and is within the Rosemary Residential Overlay District, designations that allow for increased residential density and a range of potential redevelopment options, the news release said.

Conceptual plans prepared for the property envision apartments, condominiums, retail, restaurants or mixed-use development.

Florida's Live Local Act could provide additional development opportunities for qualifying projects, according to the property's marketing materials, the news release said. Any future redevelopment would be subject to city approvals and other applicable requirements.

The contiguous size of the property makes it an unusual development opportunity in Sarasota's urban core, where large parcels can be difficult to assemble, the real estate company said.

Sarasota Military Academy, founded in 2002, decided to sell the downtown campus following a long-term evaluation of its facilities and operations. Consolidating the schools at the Bethel Lane location will allow the nonprofit charter school to bring its students and operations together at one campus, the news release said.