The story
On a 4–1 vote, the Sarasota County Commission agreed to pay $18.1 million for a 2.04-acre boatyard at Stickney Point Road — land the seller had bought for $8.9 million in January 2024, roughly double the recorded price just two years later. Total authorization reached $21.36 million, with about $20.77 million to be borrowed. Commissioner Tom Knight cast the lone no; Commissioners Mark Smith and Joe Neunder voted yes. Officials campaigned on restraint. The record shows a board that doubled a seller's price and borrowed the difference — one more line in the $876 million of new spending and debt added in three years (about $7,189 per family of four), alongside the county's own ~$100.2 million administration center. The seller has made press claims of additional investment; the only figures on the public record are the recorded prices.
From Your Observer's reporting
Your Observer reported that the County Commission moved to buy the Stickney Point Road property for $18.1 million — a site the seller had acquired two years earlier for $8.9 million — in a deal later paused amid scrutiny.
By the numbers
The county agreed to pay $18.1 million for a 2.04-acre boatyard parcel at 1500 Stickney Point Road that the seller had purchased for $8.9 million in January 2024 — about double the seller's recorded price, two years later. Total authorization reached $21.36 million, with roughly $20.77 million to be borrowed.
They agreed to pay $18.1 million for land the seller bought for $8.9 million — two years earlier.