Sarasota's Newest Homes by the Gulf ft. Vicki from Akoya

In this episode of Jim Sells the Suncoast, host Jim Ahearn speaks with Vicki, a lead salesperson at Akoya Residences and a seasoned realtor, to explore the exciting new development in North Tamiami Trail. Vicki shares details about the Akoya’s prime location just north of downtown Sarasota and its proximity to top destinations like University Town Center, Sarasota’s beaches, and cultural landmarks.

Listeners will learn about the variety of living options at Akoya, which offers one, two, and three-bedroom condos with modern, high-quality finishes. Vicki also highlights the development’s competitive pricing, flexible rental policies, and attractive amenities such as a saltwater pool, social lounge, and fitness center. The conversation covers key aspects of Akoya's role in the revitalization of North Tamiami Trail and its appeal to both young professionals and second-home buyers. If you're looking for a new home in Sarasota, this episode provides a complete overview of what Akoya has to offer.

Key Takeaways:

• Akoya’s prime location just minutes from downtown Sarasota, beaches, and University Town Center
• Overview of Akoya's one, two, and three-bedroom condos with modern finishes
• Competitive pricing starting at $442,000 for one-bedroom units, up to $735,000 for two-bedrooms, and mid-$800,000s for three-bedrooms
• Amenities including a saltwater pool, social lounge, and fitness center
• Flexible rental policies and pet-friendly regulations
• The role of Akoya in the revitalization of North Tamiami Trail and its growing appeal

What's Next?
Follow Jim Sells the Suncoast for more insights into the real estate opportunities on Florida’s Suncoast.

Interested in learning more about Akoya Residences? Reach out to Jim to get connected with Vicki, or visit the Akoya Residences website for additional details.

Looking to buy or sell a home on the Suncoast? Reach out to Jim at jim.ahearn@gmail.com or visit his website, Jim Sells the Suncoast.

A Personal Note from Jim:

Hey there, I’m Jim Ahearn, your go-to real estate guide and host of Jim Sells The Suncoast podcast! 🎙️✨ Dreaming of Florida life? I’ve got you covered! As your dedicated buyer's agent, I’ll handle everything from walk-throughs to closing, making your home-buying journey as smooth as a Florida breeze.

Whether you're local or tuning in from afar, I’ll bring the Suncoast to you with virtual tours and expert advice. Let’s chat about your dream home and I'll connect you with all the right people to make it happen.

Ready to move to paradise? Drop me a line – I can’t wait to help! 🌴🏡

Transcript

Jim: 0:00

Good morning today. I have the pleasure of having Vicki out with me. She's been a realtor for five years going through some really crazy industry times through the COVID times. She is chair of the YPM at the realtor association and now one of the lead salesmen at the Akoya residences. Welcome Vicki.

Vicki: 0:20

Thanks for having me, Jim. I'm excited. Oh, it's my

Jim: 0:22

pleasure. Fantastic. so let's talk about the Akoya and what sets this development maybe apart in terms of lifestyle and community experience compared to others in the area and what it's going to bring to that lifestyle on the Suncoast.

Vicki: 0:35

Sure. So I'm really excited about this project. I think it is a refreshing price point for our market. If you're looking at new construction condos in our downtown Sarasota area. you're looking at entry prices of about 2 million. And the nice thing about this is you are only a few minutes north of downtown and it's really becoming such a sweet spot in our area. Just because of, that access to downtown, you're less than five minutes to get to all the restaurants and the bay project where there's, yoga on the lawn on Saturdays and just nice walks to take. So that's really awesome. And then, the beaches are always such a nice part of our area. You're less than 15 minutes to get to Lido. You're about 20 minutes to get to Siesta. And then you can even go north to Bradenton Beach and Anna Maria really easily as well. And then another nice point of connection is we're just south of University Parkway, which has really become like a main corridor now for our town. You can shoot over to University Town Center. Within 15 minutes and you've got the mall and a lot of great restaurants and options over there as well.

Jim: 1:51

You have like within 30 minutes of North, East and South is just about everything on the sun coast. And then West is the beach. So it's hard to go wrong with that.

Vicki: 2:01

Yeah. So it's really,

Jim: 2:03

and that whole area is being revitalized too, as they go through and rebuild and clean it up. Van Wazel's got big projects going on.

Vicki: 2:10

Yeah. So that whole North Tamiami trail section is seeing like a whole reshaping, which is really exciting. Because, once you fly into Sarasota, Sarasota is really Expanding to, and so our airport's growing and there's not really much between the airport and getting to downtown. I feel like the city is making a push to really, see a change in that North Tammy trail. Cause that's people's first experience when they come to Sarasota and it hasn't exactly been the best until you get to downtown and the beaches. I'm really excited about, yeah,

Jim: 2:42

A forgotten area. I know the downtown's gone at revitalization over the last 20 years now. And it's amazing.

Vicki: 2:50

Yeah. And even within the last five or six years, we really seen like a cool transition with our downtown Sarasota. And then it's like anywhere else that you want new and whether it's amenities or things like that, you really have to go out East. So that's why it's exciting that they're seeing like a reshaping, let's call it, of this north trail. And, along with that there's always been an established neighborhood west of the trail with Indian shores. Sapphire Beach. That nice neighborhood there. It's really just elevating that space. And then you also have the Ringling School of Art and Design that's been an area for a long time. And it's a really reputable art school here in town. And they are Building a really amazing new academic structure as well that's coming on to 41 and then a few of those parcels of land have already been bought for future development. It's really just going to elevate that space in North Tamiami trail, which I think also just makes a such a phenomenal community at this time.

Jim: 3:49

The next 2 to 3 years is going to be a huge transition

Vicki: 3:52

yeah. And actually the city does have a vision for what that North Tamiami trail looks like. And so I think it really will become like a downtown corridor overall.

Jim (2): 4:02

But they

Vicki: 4:03

do want to widen the sidewalks there to make it a more walkable area with, more restaurants. And then there's even talks about bringing a roundabout to Myrtle, which we've seen those roundabouts come into play in some of our downtown areas. Slow the traffic and make the areas more walkable.

Jim (2): 4:21

So

Vicki: 4:22

it's all kind of that vision too, for North Tamiami trail,

Jim: 4:25

what variety of living options are going to be available here?

Vicki: 4:28

What type of living options?

Jim: 4:30

Yeah.

Vicki: 4:31

So a Coya is a condo building. It's going to be four stories with 51 condos altogether.

Jim (2): 4:37

And it's

Vicki: 4:38

got a really nice mix of one bedrooms, two bedrooms, and then there are two different floor plans for our three bedroom units as well.

Jim: 4:48

Okay. Let's talk a little bit about those. So one and two bedrooms, are they going to be interspersed among all the floors?

Vicki: 4:53

Yeah. The majority of the building is going to be two bedrooms. There's 36, two bedrooms altogether and eight one bedrooms in the building. And so the two bedrooms, you could either be east facing or west facing in the building. Most of our one bedrooms are west facing units. There's two per floor. For the one bedroom that's eight hundred and fifty one square feet. And in that living space, it's. open living with all our floor plans. But in the one bedrooms, you also have a closet with a washer and dryer as well. All really nice finishes. Stone countertops, like the sleek waterfall edge Island in the kitchen, really nice high ceilings. They're just over nine and a half feet on floors, two, three, and four. And then on the first level, they're actually a little bit taller. They're closer to 10 feet or just over 10 feet.

Jim (2): 5:49

Okay,

Vicki: 5:50

and really nice feature as well is all the units do have balconies and so I believe they're eight foot sliders, but impact class as well. All that nice new construction features filled and then also, interiors as well. They're very modern and contemporary looking.

Jim: 6:10

Okay. Can you share maybe some starting prices for homes in the development?

Vicki: 6:15

Sure. So currently it is September, maybe September when this gets released. So with new construction projects, the best time to get into a building is in this pre construction selling phase. Once we sell out of these units, the prices will go up from here as you typically see in these projects. So we are limited on our one bedrooms. We currently have a third floor, one bedroom at around 442, 000.

Jim: 6:46

Okay.

Vicki: 6:47

Then our two bedrooms that we have available, these range from first floor east facing up to fourth floor west facing, and you'll find those in a range from 588,000 up to 735,000 depending on floor and exposure. And then we only have a few three bedrooms in this release. Roughly in the mid eight hundreds. And then what's really nice about new construction is our monthly fees are really reasonable. And if you've been looking at resale condos recently, you've seen those monthly fees like really shoot up in price. And so for our one bedrooms, you're going to be just under 350 a month for those condo fees. The two bedrooms are just under 500 and the three bedrooms are just under 600 a month.

Jim: 7:44

Wow. That's not bad. And the West facing is water view.

Vicki: 7:49

Or close to it. Might have water views from the fourth floor, but we're not guaranteeing that.

Jim: 7:53

Okay.

Vicki: 7:53

You'll be facing the neighborhood that's there.

Jim: 7:55

Okay.

Vicki: 7:56

And you're about a 10 to 15 minute walk to the sunset park. Part of that Indian shore. Okay.

Jim: 8:03

So when we look at the whole building, what amenities is the development going to provide pools, gyms, community centers and then obviously we know what we talked about that's going to be around it, but what within the building itself.

Vicki: 8:15

Yeah, so you're going to have a really nice saltwater pool on the South side of the building. With a nice paved deck with lounge chairs, there's going to be a fire pit and a grilling station out there as well. That will take you into our social lounge that will be set up with internet and wifi. But you could also choose to rent that out. If you were going to have a party,

Jim (2): 8:36

for

Vicki: 8:37

family or friends, you can rent that out so then it's private. And then there's also a really nice fitness center too.

Jim: 8:43

Okay.

Vicki: 8:43

Yeah.

Jim: 8:44

Who is the ideal buyer or resident for this community?

Vicki: 8:48

Oh, that's a good question. Right now the buyers we have under contract, range, honestly, like it hasn't been a specific demographic, but I think. It's a nice welcoming price point to our market. So a little bit of that young professional buyer,

Jim (2): 9:05

right?

Vicki: 9:05

Definitely, buy into a Koya. You could also have, your second home buyer as well. Just because. Sarasota airport is so close. And then, you're easily within everything that you would need for when you want to come and experience that Sarasota lifestyle in the building as well. And then, we really thought we'd have some more investor buyers just because we have a flexible rental policy. That hasn't been so much the case. It seems to be people that want to live here, whether it's good or time,

Jim: 9:37

When you look at the area in a lifestyle, whether it's somebody moving down here for their job and profession families in the area that want to move over and be able to be on the coast. So you're going to get a nice mix of everybody coming in. You'll have the whole gamut of what we have.

Vicki: 9:54

Like people in Florida moving from the other coast, things like that. Maybe a little less families just because that doesn't seem to be like the demographics of the condo market, but more of that I guess a younger family that maybe doesn't have kids quite yet, or like the grandparents that, want to have the three bedrooms for when they do have family come into town.

Jim: 10:13

Okay.

Vicki: 10:14

Can you

Jim: 10:15

outline the construction timeline for completion? When will it be fully ready?

Vicki: 10:20

So we're hoping to have it ready by the end of 2025. It should be about a 16 month build time. I believe the developers have this all worked out. A simple construction build. And then also we do have different design packages for the condos, but it's not fully customizable. So that also, helps with that delivery time.

Jim: 10:44

Let's look at that. What can they customize? What are some of the options and what is it that you're setting up as the standard for this area or for this build?

Vicki: 10:52

So honestly, our standard kitchen is a really nice looking kitchen with all white cabinet. It's like still stone countertops with the waterfall edge island. So standard is a really good quality, but you could choose to upgrade the kitchen package. And then that changes your color scheme. And also then moves like your oven and microwave to the wall instead of having it in the counter. That's one of the changes with the kitchen upgrades. And then you could also change the flooring.

Jim: 11:26

Okay. What are the options on the flooring?

Vicki: 11:30

So it's the luxury vinyl would be standard, and then you can upgrade to a porcelain tile or engineered hardwood.

Jim: 11:36

How is a developer supporting homeowners after the sale, including warranties or ongoing maintenance?

Vicki: 11:44

That's a great question. We talked about like the monthly fees being relatively low. The developers are guaranteeing those fees. Cause a lot of times people have come in and they're like, Oh yeah, that's what you tell us now. But we know once it closes, There are going to be a huge jump in the fees. We've seen a big change in our insurance market too, which has, been one of the reasons for those changes in

Jim (2): 12:07

them,

Vicki: 12:08

condo fees. But new construction is definitely going to have the best premiums for insurance. And yeah,

Jim: 12:14

that's a good advantage coming out of the build of having everything. Up to speed. And that's the milestone you're starting off where everybody else is trying to catch up to.

Vicki: 12:24

Yeah. Or if a building was built maybe in 2020, 21, like during those sales, like the insurance premiums looked a lot different to what they are now. So sometimes like you've seen those jump mainly for that reason. So the developers are guaranteeing those monthly fees as long as they're in charge of the board. So definitely that first year. That's what that looks like. And then it's all your standard cosmetic, one year warranties and other building warranties as well from the companies that they're using.

Jim: 12:58

How does the development integrate with the local community? What are you seeing? Any input from the areas to what they want to see come out of the Acquia and in any partnerships that Acquia has with anybody in the area?

Vicki: 13:10

To be honest I'm not too sure how people in the area, I've had some calls from people that would be like, oh, I'm so glad to see this coming to our neighborhood and things like that. But as far as my involvement with, that community and the building up there is limited.

Jim: 13:28

Okay. I think, when we talked about the change and what's going on over the years, with buildings either being banded or left in their revitalization of the whole area, having something like this goes in is a huge upgrade for, what was there both visually, aesthetically, and commercially.

Vicki: 13:46

Yeah, for sure.

Jim: 13:48

What environmental considerations were prioritized during planning and construction? Are you aware of any, sometimes you have things going in oh, we have wetlands here, we're doing these things. Is there anything that was a big impact from where this goes?

Vicki: 14:02

I can't imagine there was like whole lot, like we're actually, you're like a 10 minute walk to the bay, but we aren't in a flood zone and we're actually have a pretty high elevation. They're thinking of ways to heavily landscape, the east side of the building and with like setbacks and things like that they've been thinking of ways more to beautify the current area along with the building.

Jim: 14:28

Any specific guidelines or restrictions for the homeowners like any pet or rental regulations?

Vicki: 14:35

Yeah. With the pet policy, you are allowed to have two pets up to 50 each. We have a flexible rental policy for 30 percent of the units. They have the option to be in a short term rental policy. So right now for the city of Sarasota, that's a 1 week minimum to that 30%. It's a 1 month minimum. So you have that choice. If you go under contract and you want to use this as short term, you'll let us know so we can put you on that list. So then you can exercise that and then what's also nice about it is you don't have to own your condo for any amount of time before you're able to rent. Whereas, if you're in downtown Sarasota, it's not uncommon to have to own your condo for two years before you're able to rent. And a lot of times those rental restrictions are a lot harder, like you might have to do a three month period and you can maybe only do that one time a year and things like that.

Jim: 15:28

A lot more flexible.

Vicki: 15:30

Yeah. They want us to have some flexibility to that.

Jim: 15:33

Can you share any stories or testimonials from current residents or buyers that highlight their positive experiences and what they were looking for and how the Acquia is the place for them?

Vicki: 15:45

Yeah, it's a little early on since they have the finished product or anything like that, but they've been excited for the location and what the proximity is to downtown. And then also. The price point and the value of the building. You just cannot get these prices just a few minutes south of us. And then we'll have it be brand new it's always been an attraction for our market.

Jim: 16:14

Yeah. And then the size and location of these scenes really well thought out and placed. I've been in the area for 40 years and knowing that you can go 30 minutes either way, even in by the water and have that kind of location and accessibility is, there's not a lot of places that can do that and not certainly not at that price point.

Vicki: 16:32

Yeah, so definitely refreshing and the developers are really great guys They definitely have been very thoughtful like throughout their design process and things like that So it hasn't been anything overlooked

Jim: 16:44

Awesome. What else would you like to say about the akoya and coming to sarasota and the suncoast?

Vicki: 16:50

Oh, that is a great question. you're part of something really special here. We're seeing a big reshaping of that North Trail and that just, really makes Equoia such a phenomenal opportunity at this time. Because once you see that change, then, all those prices, they're there. And historically, new construction has always been very well in our town.

Jim: 17:11

Fantastic. Thank you Vicky for coming out talking about the Akoya. We'll have all contact information in the show notes so that anybody has any questions or wants more information, they'll be able to reach out.

Vicki: 17:22

Okay, that sounds great. Thanks so much for having me, Jim.

Jim: 17:25

Thanks for coming on.