Apartment complex gets partial approval

224 new units planned on North Tamiami Trail

More than 220 multifamily apartments are one step closer to construction on North Tamiami Trail.

The Sarasota Development Review Committee partially signed off on Calypso Sarasota, a 5.7-acre apartment apartment complex. The approval combines a pair of previously approved projects for 224 total units.

Calypso Sarasota will stretch about a mile down North Tamiami Trail — between 47th Street and 42nd Street — and span three buildings. The project posts an estimated $47 million in construction costs and is slated for completion by July 2025, according to its land development application.

The property will combine the previously approved Sapphire North and Sapphire South apartment complexes: two related but separate buildings located at 4415 and 4501 N. Tamiami Trail and 4221 and 4229 N. Tamiami Trail, respectively. A third building at 4309 N. Tamiami Trail, which houses a Super 8 motel, will complete the project.

The committee’s partial approval comes after Roers Companies, the project’s developer, submitted Calypso in its final stages for a second time. An initial submission saw the committee direct Roers to resubmit its plan with improvements after a Dec. 21, 2022 meeting.

Calypso will not fall under the city’s attainable housing designation, which is given to units that those earning between 60 and 120% of Sarasota’s median income can afford and offers a density bonus. But the complex will still receive a density bonus — which allows for the conduction of more than originally permitted by city guidelines — thanks to a state statute incentivizing the installation of greywater systems.

The law boosts unit restrictions by up to 35% for developments that include greywater systems, which use water from bathtubs and showers for irrigation purposes, for every unit. Calypso’s single greywater system will filter water from every unit across the property and afford it the 35% increase.

The review committee’s partial signoff puts the proposal in front of the planning board. A final decision will likely come in November.

Contact reporter Heather Bushman at hbushman@gannett.com.