The Commercial Real Estate Alpha Site

Software entrepreneur Jesse Biter says his plans to build affordable apartments downtown have been stymied and he intends to either take on a partner or sell the rental site altogether.

Biter’s decision comes months after he publicly touted a “new urbanist” vision involving apartments and retail space for the former United Way building on Second Street in downtown Sarasota, a plan he claimed was critical to improving downtown.

But Biter said Monday he couldn’t get the necessary bank financing because he lacks real estate development experience.

The inability to obtain financing could either delay or cripple the widely anticipated, $46 million project and prompt Biter to ultimately relinquish control.

“Banks love the project, but because I have never built anything before, they want me to have an experienced partner,” said Biter, who maintains that higher density and more affordable housing are essential to a healthy downtown.

“It hasn’t been for a lack of effort, that’s for sure.”

Biter earned an estimated $40 million creating and subsequently selling an auto software business, and he now operates a dealership supply company from the HuB Building on Second Street, which he also owns.

In addition to owning several other downtown storefronts, he also is active in politics on a local and national level.

But his most ambitious — and widely talked about — endeavor to date involved building apartments downtown to rent to young professionals, teachers, receptionists, police officers or alike.

By contrast, the vast majority of residential buildings in the city’s urban core are luxury condominiums that are financially out of the reach for most middle-class workers.

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