$57M Sarasota Theater Project in Downtown Moves Forward

Key Information

• Project Name: McGillicuddy Arts Plaza
• Location: Downtown Sarasota, Florida
• Investment: $57 million
• Facilities: Second main theater, two cabaret theaters, 125-space parking structure, 24 multi-family rental units, 33-room hotel
• Construction Start: December 2024
• Founded: 1973 by Artis Jon Spelman
• Assets: $65.87 million (most recent fiscal year)

Zoning codes can be written to cover most scenarios — but occasionally a project within it doesn’t necessarily conform to convention.

Such is the case of Florida Studio Theatre and its planned McGillicuddy Arts Plaza on two parcels it owns in downtown Sarasota on First Street, adjacent to its current performing arts facilities.

The $57 million addition will serve a variety of uses, including a second main theater, two smaller cabaret theaters, a 125-space parking structure plus dining and office space. Included in the design are 24 multi­family rental units and a 33-room hotel.

Its primary identifying feature, though, is the theater space, and that’s where several requested adjustments were presented to the City of Sarasota Planning Board at its Aug. 7 meeting.

In addition to an exemption to the code that will allow for parking in the second layer above the two-story theater space to provide a more efficient design and maximize the number of spaces, FST also requested a cut in the median on Cocoanut Avenue. That will allow patrons coming from the south to enter the westbound alley between Cocoanut and First Street without having to make a U-turn at Second Street.

In the spirit of Radio City Music Hall and the Chicago Theater, though, FST officials want the new theater space to be easily identifiable by adding extra signage to the exterior of the building, among them one that spans five stories in height.

To representatives of the project, it seemed like little to ask for a prime downtown location that, rather than a longstanding cultural element, could otherwise be another nondescript 18-story condo tower.

Artis Jon Spelman founded Florida Studio Theatre in 1973 as an alternative touring group, reaching out to isolated and underserved audiences. Today, FST has about 40,000 subscribers and reported $65.87 million in assets in its most recent fiscal year.

“We’ve been downtown since before the days when you could fire a cannon and not hit anything, and now everything’s grown up around us,” said FST Managing Director Rebecca Hopkins, who is also Richard’s wife. “We want to stay downtown, but in order to do that, we have to meet our needs, and we absolutely need this building.”

FST needs a second main theater to meet patron demand, as well as housing for long-term visiting performers and staff. The hotel will provide short-term accommodations for performers and be open to the public.

“We need this, and we need it to look like a theater district,” Hopkins emphasized. “You go to any city in the country and you’re going to see and know you’re in a theater district.”

The Planning Board required little convincing that Florida Studio Theatre’s request was reasonable. The proposals actually received uncharacteristic praise from board members at the meeting.

“I’m excited about this. It’s fun to have something other than a condo building or apartment structure for us to consider,” said board member Dan Clermont.

Planning Board Chairman Dan DeLeo expressed his admiration, stating, “You’re a model of what an arts organization should be in this community.”

This article originally appeared on sister site YourObserver.com.