Some older Siesta Key condominiums face a rule that seems backward. If a hurricane badly damages the building, the owners can rebuild the same number of units. If the owners decide to tear it down and rebuild stronger before any storm arrives, they lose more than half of those units. In November 2025, Sarasota County declined to change that rule, and nothing so far in 2026 has reopened the question.
For a buyer comparing condos on the island, this rule shapes what the buyer is actually buying. A building that can't rebuild on its own terms has one proactive option, which is to repair in place, and the owners pay for those repairs through assessments. That makes the building's repair history and reserve plan at least as important as the asking price.
The Rule, Using One Building as the Example
The test case is Sea Club V, a 41-unit timeshare property at 6744 Sarasea Circle. According to Your Observer's account of the county debate, current FEMA regulations let a condominium like Sea Club V rebuild at its existing density of 41 units if a natural disaster causes damage worth more than 50% of the property's value. If the owners voluntarily demolish and rebuild to make the building more resilient, they have to meet the density limits adopted after 1986. For Sea Club V, that means 18 units in place of 41.
Siesta Sand summed up the current rules this way: rebuilding to modern standards is generally allowed only after a hurricane or similar natural event destroys the building. Sea Club V isn't the only building in this position. Mark Smith, a Siesta Key-based architect who later became a county commissioner, argued that aging condo properties that don't meet current density rules are scattered across the island and all face the same choice.
"This would allow demolition and rebuilding of condominiums before they're destroyed or damaged severely by a storm, and before perhaps even the loss of life." Commissioner Mark Smith, at the county's final hearing on the amendment
Why the Fix Was Turned Down
The proposal would have changed the county's Comprehensive Plan so that Siesta Key condominiums built before 1986 could voluntarily rebuild at their current density. Because it was a Comprehensive Plan amendment, it needed a supermajority to move forward. On November 18, 2025, with Smith recused, the commission voted 4-0 to deny it. Before that, the Planning Commission had voted unanimously on September 18 to recommend denial.
Height was the main concern. County planner Everett Farrell said that under current standards, a 45-foot building could be replaced with one as tall as 69 feet, and that without the original footprint as a limit, replacement buildings could be "larger, wider and taller." Lourdes Ramirez, president of Protect Siesta Key, raised the possibility that developers would buy, demolish and redevelop properties. She also described the island as already the most intensively developed residential area in Sarasota County. The commissioners noted that no one from Sea Club V or any other affected condominium spoke in favor.
Since then, the county's work on Siesta Key has focused on other things. On February 11, 2026, commissioners voted 5-0 to direct staff to develop a community plan, lay the groundwork for a task force and find funding. The Siesta Key Beautification Task Force was approved 5-0 on May 19, 2026. Its agenda, as reported in September, covers stormwater, sewer, transit, utilities, mobility and funding. Condo density isn't on it. A coastal-resiliency workshop being planned this fall covers coastal engineering, seawalls and setbacks, and Siesta Sand's October 1 report on it mentions no condo-rebuild proposal.
Florida's Resiliency and Safe Structures Act, Section 553.8991 of the Florida Statutes, sets its own conditions. It applies to buildings that sit partly seaward of the coastal construction control line and are either below federal flood-elevation requirements, formally declared unsafe or ordered demolished. It also doesn't expressly restore a condominium's historic unit count. Whether it applies to any particular building depends on that building's location and condition. That's a question for the association's attorney and engineer, and you can't settle it from a listing.
Three Paths for an Aging Building
Under the rules as they stand in October 2026, an older building that doesn't meet current density limits has three possible paths:
| Path | What the rules allow | Effect on owners |
|---|---|---|
| A storm damages more than 50% of the value | Rebuild at existing density | Same unit count, with timing set by the storm |
| Owners voluntarily demolish and rebuild | Must meet post-1986 density limits | Sea Club V would go from 41 units to 18 |
| Repair in place | Keep the existing structure | Owners pay through special assessments, often on a schedule set by an engineer's findings |
Only the third path is open to owners who want to act before a storm, and that's the path that produces the large assessments buyers see in association documents.
What Repairing in Place Cost at Harbor Towers
Harbor Towers Yacht & Racquet Club shows what that path looks like. In 2021, the association hired a structural engineer to assess the nearly 50-year-old building and then took on a project of roughly $13 million. Association President Pat Palumbo described it as essentially rebuilding the building "from the inside out." The work included replacing the glass to updated hurricane specifications, rebuilding exterior walls, reinforcing wall studs and extensive waterproofing. It was finished about a month before Hurricane Milton made landfall on Siesta Key.
Palumbo said the renovated building envelope came through Milton with no damage, even with gusts of about 130 mph measured on the roof. The roof itself wasn't part of the project, was damaged and has since been replaced.
Each owner paid for the project directly. Assessments ran from the low $40,000s to nearly $100,000 depending on unit size, and the project initially met resistance, with some owners selling rather than paying. An earlier Siesta Sand story described the work as a $14 million, two-year exterior renovation for the 210-unit community. The two figures likely reflect different ways of counting the project's scope.
This affects buyers in two ways. The owners who sold rather than pay passed the assessment question to whoever bought from them, and that buyer either took on the bill or paid a price that accounted for it. A buyer who arrives after a project like this is finished is buying into a building where much of that cost has already been paid.
The Deadline That Brings This to Every Building
Florida's condo safety law requires residential condominium associations with buildings three or more habitable stories high to complete a Structural Integrity Reserve Study, known as a SIRS. Under HB 913, which became law July 1, 2025, the deadline was extended to December 31, 2025. Associations with a milestone inspection due on or before December 31, 2026 may complete the SIRS together with that inspection, but both must be finished by December 31, 2026. That deadline is less than three months away.
Funding is the second part. The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation says qualifying associations that voted to waive or reduce these reserves in budgets adopted by December 31, 2024 had to begin funding them according to the study starting January 1, 2026. When a study finds reserves are inadequate, associations may need to raise fees, levy assessments or take out loans or lines of credit.
For older Siesta Key buildings that can't voluntarily rebuild, the SIRS turns ongoing repair-in-place costs into a written, dated funding schedule. Buyers can read that schedule.
What This Looks Like in the Current Market
Sarasota County's condo market is giving buyers more room to negotiate. In August 2026, according to the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee, the county recorded 281 townhouse and condo closings, up 13.8% from August 2025, at a median sale price of $310,000. Of those closings, 168 were cash purchases. Sellers received a median 91.6% of their original list price, and the median time to contract was 83 days. Active inventory fell 11.8% to 1,659 listings, which works out to 5.2 months of supply. These figures are countywide, not specific to Siesta Key, and September numbers are scheduled for release on October 16.
With buyers getting a median 91.6% of original list price, there's room to negotiate. The assessment history and reserve schedule are what show a buyer how much of that room applies to a particular unit.
Questions to Ask About Any Older Siesta Key Building
- When was the building built, and does it meet current density limits?
- Has the association completed its SIRS and milestone inspection, and if not, is it on track for the December 31, 2026 deadline?
- What does the SIRS funding schedule require over the next several years, and how do current fees compare with it?
- What major structural or envelope work has been completed, when, and has it all been paid for?
- Are any special assessments approved, pending or under discussion?
- Which parts of the building, such as the roof, carports or marina, were left out of past projects?
Your association's documents, its engineer and your attorney are the sources for answers to these questions. This post isn't legal or financial advice.
FAQ
Can an older Siesta Key condo be torn down and rebuilt with the same number of units? Under the rules described in the November 2025 county debate, a building that doesn't meet current density limits keeps its unit count only if a disaster causes damage worth more than 50% of its value. A voluntary rebuild has to meet post-1986 density limits.
Is the county considering the change again? The county's 2026 Siesta Key work through early October has focused on a community plan, the Beautification Task Force and infrastructure. No new condo-rebuild proposal has been reported.
Does a recently renovated building mean no more assessments? No. A completed project means some of the cost has already been paid. At Harbor Towers, the roof was outside the renovation's scope and was replaced separately after Milton.
If you're weighing an older Siesta Key condominium, Your Global Agents can help you review its association documents, reserve study timeline and assessment history before you make an offer. Request a Complimentary Consultation & Market Valuation, and we'll go through the numbers for that building with you.
