The Quay and Downtown Sarasota's Luxury Wave: What Is Actually Being Built (2026)

Short answer: downtown Sarasota is in the middle of a genuine luxury build-out, and the two projects buyers ask me about most are at completely different stages. The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Sarasota Bay has topped off at The Quay with delivery publicly targeted for late 2026. 1000 North, the members club co-founded by Michael Jordan, is nearly finished inside the BLVD tower but just asked the Planning Board to pause its own application, so its opening date is now genuinely unknown.

I am writing this in September 2026, and the honest framing matters more than the hype. Downtown project timelines here move, and a buyer who plans around an announced date can get caught. Here is what is verifiable right now, and what I would actually do with it.

The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Sarasota Bay

This is the headline project at The Quay. Kolter Urban topped off the 20-story tower, a milestone that means the structure has reached full height, and has publicly targeted delivery in late 2026. The plan is 78 residences at 475 Quay Commons, with homes ranging from roughly 3,500 to nearly 6,000 square feet across three and four bedroom layouts.

The published amenity program includes a resort-style pool, a waterfront fitness center, a spa, and a private dining program. Sales run through an on-site gallery at 475 Quay Commons. Topping off is a real milestone, but it is not the same as a certificate of occupancy, and interiors take time. Treat late 2026 as the developer's target rather than a date to sign a lease around.

1000 North: nearly built, and newly delayed

First, the correction I find myself making constantly: this is not a golf club. 1000 North is a members-only dining and social club, modeled on the Jupiter original co-founded by Michael Jordan and Ernie Els. Michael Jordan's golf club, Grove XXIII, is in Hobe Sound, on the other side of the state.

The Sarasota club is being built inside the BLVD condominium tower near Tamiami Trail and Boulevard of the Arts, in the Rosemary District, at 520 North Tamiami Trail. It was reported at roughly 13,000 square feet over two levels, with an announced expansion into neighboring space that would bring it to roughly 23,500 square feet. Memberships have been reported at $60,000 a year.

Then the turn. In late August 2026, after a long and pointed Planning Board hearing focused on the club's valet and parking plan, the applicant asked the board to continue its own application indefinitely rather than face a vote. The board agreed unanimously. The application is to be re-advertised and re-noticed whenever the applicant returns, which means the widely reported October opening is, as of this writing, off the calendar with no replacement date.

This is the part that matters if you are buying nearby: an amenity that is announced, and even nearly built, is not an amenity you own. Buy the residence and the location on their own merits. If the club opens, treat it as upside.

What this means if you are buying downtown

• Do not pay a premium today for an amenity with an uncertain opening date. Price the home, the view, and the building's own finances.
• Ask what is planned or approved for every parcel you can see from the unit. Downtown Sarasota is actively building, and a water view can become a wall view.
• For any condo, the building's own paperwork matters more than the district's momentum. Milestone inspection status, reserve funding, and assessment history drive both your monthly cost and your future resale.
• New-construction delivery dates slip. If you are selling a home to move into one, build slack into the timing or plan for interim housing rather than assuming a handoff.

The rest of the district

The Quay sits on the former Sarasota Quay site on the bay just north of the downtown core, and it functions as a walkable mixed-use pocket rather than a single tower. The Rosemary District immediately inland has been the faster-changing neighborhood of the two, which is exactly why the parking and valet questions around 1000 North drew the scrutiny they did. Density arrived faster than the parking math.

If you want the wider picture of what is under construction across Sarasota and Manatee, including Nathan Benderson Park and the Sarasota Square redevelopment, I keep a separate roundup updated as projects move.

How I help

I will tell you when an announced amenity should not factor into your offer, which is most of the time. If you are weighing a downtown Sarasota condo, I will pull the building's documents, check what is approved around it, and give you the honest read, including the buildings I would not buy into right now.