A new apartment project planned off Tallevast Road is moving forward at a moment when the local rental market is no longer running as hot as it was a few years ago. Vacancies have climbed across the Sarasota-Bradenton area, rents have softened and concessions have become more common. Still, Indiana-based developer Milhaus is betting there is room for another 231 apartments in a corridor it sees as underserved—and that a sizable share of them can appeal to workers who’ve increasingly been priced out of the region’s newer product. 

The project, called Tallevast, is planned for 2750 Tallevast Road and has recently broken ground. Leasing is expected to start in summer 2027, with final delivery targeted for November 2027. Plans call for five, three-story garden-style buildings with 12 studios, 108 one-bedroom apartments, 78 two-bedrooms and 33 three-bedrooms, ranging from 617 square feet to 1,357 square feet.

Milhaus is positioning the development as a Class A community, and the amenity list reads that way. The project is set to include a resort-style pool, a fitness center with yoga space, a resident clubhouse and lounge, co-working areas, pickleball courts, a pet spa, bike storage, walking paths, fire pits, grilling stations, EV charging stations and about 400 parking spaces. 

Inside the apartments, plans call for quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances, tile backsplashes, in-unit washers and dryers, LVP flooring and smart-home technology.

But Tallevast is also being developed under Florida’s Live Local Act, which allows qualifying projects in certain areas if at least 40 percent of the units are set aside as affordable rentals for 30 years. In this case, that means about 92 of the 231 apartments are currently planned at 120 percent of the area median income (AMI), according to Brad Vogelsmeier, vice president of development at Milhaus.

While final pricing is still on hold, “where we sit today, we’re planning on the attainable units targeting renters who fit in the 120 percent AMI,” Vogelsmeier says.

Under the 2025 Florida Housing income and rent limits for Manatee County, 120 percent of area median income is $77,880 for a one-person household, $89,040 for a two-person household and $111,240 for a four-person household. The maximum monthly rent at that level is $1,947 for a studio, $2,086 for a one-bedroom, $2,504 for a two-bedroom and about $2,891 for a three-bedroom. 

Based on current numbers, those 92 units at Tallevast could land around those numbers if the project were leasing today: roughly $1,947 for a studio, $2,086 for a one-bedroom, $2,504 for a two-bedroom and $2,891 for a three-bedroom. 

He says the target renter is intentionally broad. The site sits near the airport and in a corridor with industrial employment, while also offering access north into Manatee and south into Sarasota. Vogelsmeier says that makes it appealing not just to one workforce niche, but to a wider mix of households.

“I think it’s a pretty broad demographic band, which is intentional,” he says. He says the project could draw airport workers, nearby industrial employees, healthcare workers and split households in which one person works north and the other south.

One question is whether this is the right moment for more apartments.

According to HUD’s April 2025 housing market profile for the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton area, apartment vacancy in Sarasota County rose to 15 percent from 9.2 percent a year earlier, while Manatee County’s vacancy rate stood at 8.6 percent. Across the metro area, average apartment rent declined to $1,991, down 1 percent from a year earlier. The first-quarter vacancy rate was the highest in the past decade. 

Those aren’t numbers that automatically make a case for building more. But Vogelsmeier says they reflect a market absorbing a wave of new supply, not a region that has stopped growing.

“I think the market’s doing what it’s supposed to do in a free market environment,” he says. “The fact that rents are becoming more affordable is generally a good thing.”

He adds that the recent softness should not be mistaken for long-term weakness and “It’s just a sign of a temporary oversupply of product.”

Vogelsmeier says Tallevast isn't the company’s only local project. Asked whether Milhaus has other Sarasota or Manatee projects in the pipeline, he says, “Nothing that I can speak of publicly yet, but yes, we do.”

The project moved forward after closing on both the land purchase and construction loan. BMO is providing construction financing, Marble Capital is the equity partner and FaverGray is the general contractor.