Right now, at the Five Points roundabout where Main Street meets Pineapple Avenue, crews are dismantling a 12-story office tower from the inside out. They are not imploding it. They are taking it apart floor by floor, pulling nine tons of debris a day from what used to be the Zenith Building, clearing the site for Sarasota's first Waldorf Astoria branded residential tower.
Hilton's own press release announcing the project, dated March 17, 2026, says construction is anticipated to begin in late 2026. That sentence is still live on Hilton's site. It is also, by the developer's own later public statements, already out of date. Every piece of reporting since April has moved groundbreaking further out, and the gap between what the marketing materials say and what the development team has actually told local reporters is the thing a buyer signing a contract today needs to understand before anything else.
What the Record Actually Shows
Here is how the public timeline has moved since the project was announced:
| When | What Was Reported |
|---|---|
| November 2025 | Jebcore Z Tower LLC purchases the Zenith Building at 1390 Main St. for nearly $17.54 million |
| January 2026 | Informal sales activity begins ahead of a public launch |
| March 17, 2026 | Hilton's official release says construction "is anticipated to begin in late 2026" |
| April 15, 2026 | Michael Saunders sales director Michelle Young tells Business Observer that groundbreaking could land in April or May 2027, with demolition starting mid-summer 2026 and running roughly eight months |
| Late May 2026 | Ore Development partner Sadek Omar reports more than $40 million in contracts signed in a single month |
| June 2026 | Omar confirms to Business Observer that groundbreaking is projected for 2027, with completion still targeted for 2029 |
| July 2026 | Demolition begins in earnest, and a sales gallery is announced at 100 S. Washington Blvd. |
| August 2026 | Sarasota Magazine confirms demolition is underway with construction aiming to begin in summer 2027 |
Read across those rows and the pattern is plain. The construction start date has moved from late 2026 to spring 2027 to summer 2027 over the course of five months of public statements from the same development team, while the completion date quoted in June, 2029, has not moved at all.
That is worth sitting with. If the front end of a multi-year build slips by two to three quarters and the back end stays fixed, one of two things has to be true. Either the construction schedule is being compressed to make up the difference, or the completion date is going to move too and simply has not been updated in public statements yet. Neither answer is unreasonable for a project of this scale. But a buyer putting down a deposit today deserves to know which one the developer believes, not to infer it from a press release that predates the demolition crew currently on site.
Why This Matters More Than It Sounds
Florida pre-construction contracts typically release escrowed deposits against construction milestones, foundation, top-off, certificate of occupancy, rather than calendar dates. That protects the buyer's money. It does not protect the buyer's plans. A rate lock, a lease that ends, a decision about when to list a current home, a snowbird season you were hoping to spend in a finished unit, all of that is calendar-based, and none of it bends just because the milestone schedule does.
Michelle Young described the demolition itself as an eight-month process, taking the tower apart a few levels at a time rather than the faster route of a controlled implosion. That choice protects the surrounding block and the utility infrastructure the team was coordinating with FPL to stage around, but it also means the site clears later than a faster demolition method would allow, which is very likely part of why the groundbreaking window has kept sliding later in every subsequent update.
None of this makes the project a bad bet. It makes the marketing timeline a bad reference point. Ask for the current, written construction schedule from the sales team rather than relying on what is published, and ask specifically whether the 2029 completion date has been reconfirmed since the groundbreaking date moved.
The Other Friction Point: How You Actually Take Title
Downtown Sarasota condos at this price point, and Waldorf Astoria residences start at $2.2 million, are frequently purchased through an LLC or trust rather than in an individual's name, for estate planning or asset protection reasons. That is a normal and reasonable structure, but it adds steps that a resale closing does not require. The homeowners association has to formally acknowledge the entity, a lender needs the entity's operating agreements, and title underwriters need documentation confirming the entity can legally hold Florida real estate. Building in an extra four to six weeks for that process is a reasonable expectation if this applies to you, and it is worth raising with your attorney well before your contract's closing contingency dates are set.
The Sales Gallery Is Its Own Signal
In July, Business Observer reported that the project's sales gallery is being built out at 100 S. Washington Blvd., a building with its own local history: Michael Saunders & Company occupied that address from 1996 until the property sold in 2023. The site is now owned by the Education Foundation of Sarasota County, which bought it for $6 million in December 2023, and the foundation has leased it to the Waldorf Astoria team for the gallery. As of late July, renovations were underway with no confirmed opening date.
That detail is worth more than trivia. A developer that has already reported $40 million in signed contracts in a single month is not opening a permanent sales gallery because sales are slow. Building out dedicated, staffed sales space mid-construction usually signals a team planning for a longer sales runway than the original press release implied, which lines up with everything else the timeline shows.
Comparing the Tower to a Downtown Resale
If you are weighing a reservation at the tower against a finished downtown resale, the honest framing is this. Pre-construction locks in today's pricing and gives you input on unit selection and finishes, but it ties up deposit funds through a schedule that has already shifted once. A resale closes on a timeline you control, at a price that reflects today's downtown luxury market rather than 2029's.
One detail worth knowing either way: Michael Saunders & Company's own listing page for the project confirms a 3 percent commission paid to buyer brokers, with cooperating broker participation welcome. That means bringing your own buyer's agent to this transaction costs you nothing extra and gives you representation that answers only to you, distinct from the developer's on-site sales team.
Before you sign anything, ask for:
- The current written construction schedule, not the one in the original press release
- Written confirmation of whether the 2029 completion date has been reaffirmed since groundbreaking moved to summer 2027
- The specific milestones tied to each deposit release
- Entity-closing procedures in writing if you plan to purchase through an LLC or trust, along with a realistic closing timeline
- Confirmation of buyer broker commission terms before your first site visit
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need my own agent if Michael Saunders & Company already represents the developer? You are welcome to bring independent buyer representation. The commission structure already accounts for a cooperating buyer's broker, so it costs you nothing to have someone representing only your interests through the reservation and contract process.
Is the $2.2 million starting price still accurate? That figure has held across every public statement from Hilton's March launch through the most recent June reporting. Pricing on pre-construction towers can move as phases sell, so confirm current availability and pricing directly before assuming the original number still applies to remaining inventory.
What happens to my deposit if the schedule slips again? That depends entirely on your specific purchase agreement's milestone language. Given that the public timeline has already moved twice since March, this is a question to put in writing to the sales team before you sign, not something to assume from the marketing materials.
If you are trying to decide whether a pre-construction reservation downtown makes sense against buying a finished home now, or if you are weighing what your current property could bring toward a move like this, I would be glad to help you think it through with real numbers rather than a press release. Reach out to Angela Adams and, if selling first is part of your plan, start with a free home valuation to see where you stand.
