Sarasota County cut the ribbon on its new $100.15 million administration center Tuesday, Aug. 25, then held its first County Commission meeting in the building's new chambers.

The four-story, 121,160-square-foot headquarters at 1 Apex Road in Fruitville Commons replaces the aging downtown building on Ringling Boulevard that the county sold to Benderson Development for $25 million in 2021. The move caps more than a decade of planning and a 2024 hurricane season that left three of the old building's six floors uninhabitable.

"We had a decision to make," County Commission Chair Ron Cutsinger said before the first meeting. "We could have spent tens of millions of dollars pouring it into an older building, poorly located, trying to rehabilitate it and make it functional in a vulnerable, flood-prone area. Or we could instead invest in the future."

County Administrator Jonathan Lewis told attendees the former headquarters, built in 1973, would have required between $45 million and $50 million in upgrades just to remain operational, according to Your Observer reporting. The Board of County Commissioners made the new center its top priority in 2020.

The project is funded from four sources: $25 million from the 2021 sale of the old building, $22.7 million from the voter-approved infrastructure surtax, $9 million from general government impact fees and $43.45 million from the general fund, according to WWSB.

Lewis said the effective cost is closer to $83 million because the former downtown campus now contributes $17.3 million in taxable property value, the Sun reported.

Deputy County Administrator Steve Botelho, who has led the building project since 2019, worked out of a conference room at the county emergency services building for 18 months after hurricane damage displaced him. Staff began moving into the new building in May 2026.

"It's been countless hours but it's been fun," Botelho said.

Not everyone celebrated. Resident Martin Hyde told commissioners during public comment to be "good stewards" of taxpayer money and compared Lewis's office to "Google's head office" on social media. Hyde cited a $450,000 salary figure for Lewis; published reports show the administrator's salary was $284,252 as of December 2025.

The new building houses county administration, the county attorney, clerk and comptroller, commissioners' chambers, communications, human resources, libraries and historical resources, and the office of financial management. Amenities include a press room, TV studio, fitness center, 340-space parking lot and panoramic views of Celery Fields.

The center is pursuing Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification and is built to serve the community for 50 to 70 years. The site sits farther from flood-prone areas than the old downtown location and meets current code standards for continuity of government operations during emergencies.

The administration center is the latest county office to migrate east from downtown. The Planning and Development Services One Stop center opened in April 2026 at 870 Apex Road, and the Emergency Operations Center and Emergency Services headquarters sit just across I-75 near Cattlemen Drive and Palmer Boulevard.