A local investment group with ties to PGA golfer Greg Norman acquired the Main Plaza/Hollywood 20 complex in downtown Sarasota for $18.1 million, with the aim of reviving the aging office and retail center. The entrepreneurs behind the group, Jesse Biter, Eric Baird and David Chessler, say they have no set plans for the property. The deal closed Nov. 12. “That side of Main Street has really struggled,” Chessler said,…
Read MoreMain Plaza plan likely in early 2016, buyers say
The new owners of Sarasota Main Plaza expect to have their redevelopment plans set by early next year. An investment group composed of local entrepreneurs Eric Baird, Jesse Biter and David Chessler paid $18.1 million Thursday for the downtown Sarasota complex, which includes the Hollywood 20 movie theater. Chessler said Friday that the group, called BBC Main Street, will gather ideas over the next three to four months and present…
Read MoreMain Plaza/Hollywood 20 sells for $18.1 million
A local investment group with ties to PGA golfer Greg Norman acquired the Main Plaza/Hollywood 20 complex in downtown Sarasota for $18.1 million, with an aim of reviving the aging office and retail center. The group, comprising of entrepreneurs Jesse Biter, Eric Baird and David Chessler, say they have no set plans for the property. The deal closed Thursday. The 8.6-acre site, anchored by Regal Cinema’s Hollywood 20 theater, a…
Read MoreDeveloper to break ground on 180 downtown apartments
Following a $7 million acquisition, Atlanta-based Carter aims to start construction next week on a downtown Sarasota project originally conceived by local entrepreneur Jesse Biter. An Atlanta-based development firm, Carter, plans to begin construction next week on 180 apartments in downtown Sarasota, in a project that dates back at least three years. Its 10-story rental building, with ground-floor retail space and two floors of parking, is slated for completion sometime…
Read MoreJesse Biter: Let Uber operate in Sarasota
I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: In business and in life, you’re either growing or you’re dying. I’ve seen the validity of that statement proven over and over again. When a business stops investing in innovation, or allows bureaucratic red tape to bind its growth and level its trajectory, it is doomed to the kind of mediocrity that leads to failure. Ensuring that Sarasota avoids the mire of…
Read MoreSarasota to consider affordable apartment project
A proposal by Sarasota businessman Harvey Vengroff — one of a slew of apartment proposals and projects in the city — is the subject of a community meeting today. The complex that Vengroff proposes to build at 2211 Fruitville Road, east of downtown, would have 404 units within five six-story buildings. The units would range in size from 350 square feet for an efficiency to more than 800 square feet…
Read MoreBiter plans residential HuB
The HuB’s founder has a new housing project aimed at those who can’t currently afford to live downtown. Entrepreneur Jesse Biter is continuing his quest to add more attainable housing targeted at young professionals in downtown Sarasota. Now, he’s pursuing a plan to add 90 apartments next to his HuB business incubator. Brian Jones, president of Jones Development Co., is teaming with Biter Enterprises on the project. At Tuesday’s Downtown…
Read MoreWith land buy, Biter poised to start apartment project
Software entrepreneur Jesse Biter has acquired the final remaining parcel needed to bring his vision of downtown apartments to reality. A company owned by Biter bought the property at 1401 Second St. for $850,000 from CRA Holding LLC, a Sarasota company managed by Thomas A. Wood. Biter used a $450,000 mortgage from seller to help finance the deal, court records show. The 5,484-square-foot building and its 0.24-acre lot become Biter’s…
Read MoreBlueprints of Inspiration
Tech development made Jesse Biter wealthy, while construction earned him a reputation in Sarasota as a developer of a different kind. We sat down with the HuB builder and Dealers United co-founder about the building blocks that lay the foundation of his own life. Rich and Tina Biter I can’t begin to describe how I’ve been shaped by my parents. They are the biggest influences. They have done the most…
Read MoreJesse Biter: Balancing of competing interests requires mayor’s leadership
A vibrant downtown with no noise … No vagrants without a place for them to go … More jobs without workforce housing… No sprawl and no increased density… Direction and vision without leadership… No, Sarasota, we can’t eat our cake and have it, too. I saw the recent comments by some city officials and city residents who want a revised sound ordinance to stop amplified music after 11 p.m. That…
Read More