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Sarasota discusses public parking at Macown Towers as housing award triggers redevelopment plan
Summary
Sarasota Housing Authority and development partners won $9.2 million in state funding to build 96 senior units at the Macown Towers site and asked the city to consider up to two levels of publicly available parking in a new garage. Commissioners directed staff to continue detailed planning and design while addressing resident safety and parking-management questions.
Sarasota Housing Authority leaders told the City Commission on Jan. 5 that an unexpected state award of $9.2 million would allow construction of 96 affordable senior units on the surface parking lot at the Macown Towers campus.
The housing authority and its co-developers said the project requires structured parking to replace existing spaces and support the expanded building. Developers presented two public-parking options: roughly 80 spaces per level, with a single level of public parking (about 80 spaces) as the baseline and two levels (about 160 spaces) as the maximum feasible option. Broxton Harvey, the city’s general manager of parking, estimated construction at about $50,000 per space, which yields planning figures of about $4 million for 80 spaces and $8 million for 160 spaces (planning-level estimates only).
“We were awarded funding to build 96 elderly units where our current surface lot is,” said William Russell of the housing authority. He and co-developer Jake Zuneman asked the commission…
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