Florida couple saves colorful Sarasota cottage village housing 17 small businesses from demolition

Sarasota cottage village Screen grab from: ABC7 news A cluster of colorful cottages along Fruitville Road in downtown Sarasota has been spared from demolition, at least for now. The Historic Downtown Village, home to 17 locally owned businesses, was under contract to be sold to a developer who planned to replace the bungalows with a 324-unit apartment complex. In early October, owners Alex and Marlene Lancaster told tenants the deal had fallen through and that they would continue owning and managing the property, taking it off the market entirely. The reversal ends months of uncertainty for shop and restaurant owners who had been weighing relocation options, according to reports by Sarasota Magazine and MySuncoast.A village of small businesses in bright cottagesThe Historic Downtown Village sits on about 3.44 acres between Fruitville Road, Fourth Street, North Osprey Avenue and Gillespie Avenue. The site is filled with small, brightly painted cottages that house a mix of restaurants, cafes, boutiques and services. Among the tenants are FAM Cuisine, The Breakfast House, Siegfried’s Restaurant and Biergarten, The Artful Giraffe and Discover Sarasota Tours, all of which have become pa...