At CitySide, Your Next Adventure Awaits.
–by Anna Cooke
Thanks to those developers who have been in tune with the marketplace—studying trends and adjusting their conceptual architectural designs—attitudes on apartment living have changed. A decade ago, America underwent a full-scale housing crisis.
Mortgage payments weren’t being met and thousands of homes were foreclosed, forcing many peo- ple into rentals. While some people rebuilt their credit and bank accounts, seeking to become home- owners again, others found they enjoyed the certain freedoms that
group are set to begin phase two to fulfill the growing demand. The Weiner family is fully vested in the project with no plans to sell to an institutional investor. Planning to keep it local, Weiner expects CitySide will turn a handsome profit for Longboat Enterprises, “for years to come,” he said. This, from a man whose
apartment dwelling afforded. Today, those communities succeed- ing, are the ones who have listened to what people want from their living spaces. The most successful of luxury apartment developments in
urban settings are the ones that offer a complete lifestyle. Those whose developers recognize that apartment dwellers are there by choice, not out of economic necessity. Bruce Weiner, CEO and founder of Longboat Enterprises, recognized that downtown Sarasota was in “desperate need of rental housing in the market- place.” The only option, prior to Weiner’s development of CitySide luxury apartments, had been the rental of individual condos, which were becoming much too expensive. Weiner met with veteran Sarasota developer Jay Tallman in
2013 to discuss ideas on developing a luxury apartment complex. Tallman, whose experience in developing such luxury condo- miniums as Vizcaya, Beau Ciel and Orchid Beach Club, translated well into building an apartment community with an upscale design and amenities. “I was inspired by the idea of serving this need in or near downtown with Bruce,” said Tallman. CitySide has been such a game-changer, Weiner and his
46 THE NEW BARKER
family resides at CitySide while in town from business travels. In support of that point, the buildings were con- structed with concrete walls and floors, as opposed to the wood- frame construction that is typical in the apartment market. “Instead of having maintenance issues crop up after five years, we will continue to have a solid building with minimal mainte- nance,” said Weiner. We recently had an opportunity to sit down with Josh
Weiner, Bruce’s son and one of his partners. As we sat in a booth within CitySide’s lounge area, we noticed a steady stream of resi- dents strolling in and out with their dogs between the main lobby and entryway to the pool. “My dad loves dogs. We grew up with Corgis. I remember
dad stopping to give our dogs a kiss, every day,” Josh said. “So, dogs were always part of the plan for CitySide. Dad is an inde- pendent thinker. Which makes us all always think about doing the unexpected. That held true when we were creating CitySide. And that goes for what was going to be good for the dogs.”
www.TheNewBarker.com
Photography by Anna Cooke
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