Yet another residential building project is in the works for downtown Sarasota. Premier on Main is taking shape next to The Artisan on Main, the mid-rise building on the south side of Fruitville Road—it’s the one with cheery blue and yellow accents that stand out among some older wood-frame bungalows on the east end of Main Street.

The developer who built Artisan on Main decided to sell after the pandemic hit. The new owner-developers, a Chicago-based group of four called Avant Guard Design, bought the parcel last year and are adding Premier on Main next door, which will house 23 residences ranging from $1 million to $1.5 million each. The same group is also poised to build a seven-condo project called Collage on 5th in the Rosemary District, just north of downtown Sarasota. Eventually, Avant Guard Design hopes to relocate its business here.  

Premier on Main will be four sister buildings, each four stories high. The first building is already in construction; all four will be done by late 2023. Two buildings hold seven residences, one has six, and another houses three. Each two- to four-bedroom units range from 2,000 square feet to almost 3,000 square feet.

Sales kicked off roughly three weeks ago. So far, "we've only been given 14 units to sell, and 12 have already sold," says Premier Sotheby’s broker-associate Frank Lambert, the real estate agent who, along with Anita Lambert, is representing the seller. "We trickle them out due to the changing costs of construction," he adds.

So what type of buyer has Premier on Main been attracting?

"All ages. We've had inquiries from 30-year-olds to 65-year-olds," Anita Lambert says. "It's a mix of working professionals and retirees. Some people live here and others are from out of state. Some are looking for a second home and others work in the neighborhood and love the convenience."

The look is the usual chic luxury standard of the moment—an open floor plan with lots of glass, high ceilings, a hefty kitchen island and European cabinetry with quartz countertops, all awash in greys and whites with touches of wood. Thomas Architects, based in Des Plaines, Illinois, is designing the project. 

Interested? Call Frank Lambert at (941) 921-1500 or Anita Lambert at (941) 920-1501.