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APRIL 2025 | 941.312.0665 | 27TH STATE MEDIA LLC | www.SiestaSand.us | COMPLIMENTARY
Economic losses mount for many condo owners: A $50 million hit?
Siesta Key Beach & Drum Circle combine to make for a memorable Sunday experience!
By Ned Steele
A
lost season of no rental income – coupled with ongoing tax, owner association and other costs – is causing severe economic hardships for owners of older, mostly ground-floor vacation rental condominium units still sitting unrepaired and unoccupied after Debby, Helene and Milton. “For all intents and purposes, the season’s over,” said Varinia Van Ness, board secretary and owner of three units at Siesta Beach House, a condo on Midnight Pass Road where 35 of the 47 units are ground floor apartments wiped out by the storm. “I might get three weeks out of it in April.” Van Ness, a retired lawyer, had to cancel 27 weeks’ worth of reservations, including peak season weeks with typical 100% occupancy
at up to $700 a night. She has obtained a government loan “to get cash to survive” as she faces personal losses she estimates at $120,000. Collectively the owners at the condo complex are out about $2 million, she believes. “This is killing some [owners],” said Mike Holderness, CEO of Beachside Management, a major vacation rental property management company on the key. “People on Siesta Key aren’t all rich. They are good, solid people paying their taxes and using the rental income to pay the mortgage.” Holderness estimated that at least 500 condo units have been off the market through the end of peak season ending later this month. At an average loss of $100,000 through end of April, that is a $50 million loss on Siesta Key.
Continued on page 24
Aerial shot of Siesta Key Drum Circle captures the essence and beauty of the #1 beach in the U.S. on a glorious Sunday afternoon. For more on the Siesta Key drum Circle, turn to page 18-19. (Photo by Dylan Jon Wade Cox)
Midnight Pass “still evolving,” county keeps hopeful watch Sarasota County Public Works Director Spencer Anderson provided members of a neighborhood
Midnight Pass continues to remain open after 2024 hurricanes but is it sustainable on its own? (Photo provided)
T
advocacy group information on the latest developments to the newly reopened pass By ChrisAnn Allen
hese days, all eyes are on Midnight Pass. Historically separating Siesta Key from Casey Key, the pass, which was filled by homeowners in the 1980s due to
property erosion concerns, was reopened by Mother Nature as a result of the 2024 hurricanes. Now, thanks to a $500,000 state appropriation received just prior to the
2024 storms, Sarasota County is working with a variety of stakeholders, including the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program, the Universities of Continued on page 28
Page 8 and Visitor Center
Sea Turtle Nesting Season
Page 14 Gulf Wars
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