The long-simmering fight over the former Gulf Gate Executive Golf Course is finally heading to a decisive vote. On February 10, the Sarasota County Commission is scheduled to take up the future of the 49-acre property, a rare chunk of open land that has neighbors and developers staring each other down across the fairway that used to be.
Residents and environmental groups are urging the county to buy the land and either lock it in as permanent greenspace or convert it into a stormwater treatment site to reduce neighborhood flooding and protect Sarasota Bay. Developers already hold entitlements for roughly a 100-home subdivision, and the property has changed hands several times since the golf course closed, leaving nearby homeowners worried that this time the bulldozers really will roll. The upcoming meeting could finally settle a years-long tug of war over whether the land stays open or turns into new housing.
As reported by WWSB, the commission is expected to decide whether to pursue a county purchase or allow existing project approvals to stand so developers can move ahead. Coverage by FOX 13 Tampa Bay has spotlighted neighbors’ worries about repeat flooding, lingering red tide impacts and declining water quality, and noted Commissioner Joe Neunder’s call for the county to study a potential acquisition as a regional stormwater asset.
The site, just under 50 acres, was rezoned years ago and has carried entitlements for about 106 homes under earlier plans, while more recent reports reference roughly 100 homes. That has left some confusion over the precise home count, even if everyone agrees it would be a dense subdivision. According to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Fort Lauderdale-based 13th Floor Homes, listed in county records as Gulf Gate Holdings LLC, bought the property and has been working with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection on a remediation plan to address arsenic in the soil.
Local advocates argue the county could cobble together federal resilience dollars and stormwater funding to cover both acquisition and restoration. They point to recent efforts like the Bobby Jones retrofit as proof that old golf courses can be reborn as water treatment systems that double as public green space. Jon Thaxton of the Gulf Coast Community Foundation told WWSB that “this is our last chance” to secure the tract for long-term community and environmental benefit.
County staff reports and local reporting show a stubborn gap between what experts say the land is worth and what the owners want. Internal appraisals have pegged the parcel somewhere between about $3.8 million and $4.6 million, while the owners have reportedly pushed for prices that are multiples of those figures, which has complicated any dealmaking. The Sarasota News Leader has detailed staff warnings that cleaning up contaminants on the property could add millions more to the overall cost and make a buyout significantly more expensive.
What Comes Next
At the February 10 meeting, commissioners are expected to take public comment, then choose a path. They could direct staff to pursue a purchase, explore creative funding tools such as a public improvement district, or simply leave current development approvals intact and let the housing project proceed. If the board votes to acquire the site, local reporting indicates a multi-year remediation, design and construction process would follow. If commissioners decline to buy, neighbors say they will continue pressing for stronger mitigation and local protections, according to coverage by FOX 13 Tampa Bay.
For Gulf Gate residents, the stakes feel immediate and close to home. Option one is to preserve a rare, large open parcel that buffers their streets and Sarasota Bay. Option two is to watch a tightly packed subdivision rise where the fairways once ran. On February 10, 2026, the county commission’s vote will decide whether Gulf Gate stays green or becomes the next stretch of houses in a rapidly changing corner of Sarasota County.
