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SPRING TRAINING IS HERE, SARASOTA 2026
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Batter Up! Spring Training Near Siesta Key ⚾
As the Gulf Coast basks in sunshine and winter recedes, baseball enthusiasts head to Florida’s west coast to partake in a cherished American sports tradition — Baseball Spring Training! Located just a short drive from Siesta Key, the Sarasota-Bradenton area and cities nearby transform into a hub for America’s pastime every February and March as Major League Baseball teams gear up for the upcoming season.
Whether you’re a die-hard fan or just looking for a fun local activity during your stay, Spring Training offers a perfect combination of competitive action, sunny weather, and affordable entertainment.
MARKETING MADE EASY!
Siesta Key Beach Social acts as a hub for local info, recommendations, events, and business promotion for anyone interested in the lifestyle, attractions, and opportunities around Siesta Key and Sarasota.
Digital marketing is one of the most popular and powerful ways to generate awareness, interest and sales for your products or services. As the name implies, digital marketing is conducted via digital avenues, including social media, websites, search engines, email and text messaging.
For optimal results, you must understand which digital marketing tactics will work best for your target audience. This post offers an in-depth look at the most effective digital marketing strategies and best practices for achieving your business goals.
GOLF GATE GOLF COURSE
Negotiations approved for potential county purchase of Gulf Gate Golf Course for stormwater initiative
Even with concerns about environmental contamination on the property, the Sarasota County commissioners this week voted unanimously to direct staff to negotiate with the owner of the Gulf Gate Golf Course for the purchase of the land for a stormwater initiative.
Before making the motion for that action, Commissioner Joe Neunder addressed members of the audience in the Commission Chambers of the R.L. Anderson Administration Center in Venice who had urged the board that morning to buy the property. He told them he believes they “broke a record” with the number of emails they had sent to the commissioners, “and that’s not a small feat.”
Neunder added, “I think that the homeowners did a fantastic job with articulating the ask.”
“After 2024, [with] three back-to-back hurricanes,” he continued, “we are — at least I think we are — hyper-aware and hyper-focused on stormwater mitigation.”
Matt Osterhoudt, director of the county’s Planning and Development Services Department, reported during a Feb. 10 presentation to the board members that the owner of the land, Gulf Gate Holdings LLC, has re-engaged with county staff to determine whether the county has an interest in buying the land.
However, Osterhoudt pointed out more than once during his remarks, Gulf Gate Holdings has not given staff a price for the approximately 48.9 acres, which is about 0.72 miles from Little Sarasota Bay.
Osterhoudt said that a market study that Gulf Gate Holdings produced estimated the value of the property at $25 million, if it were to be fully developed. Conversations among county staff members and the owner and the owner’s legal representative suggested that the asking price “would be lower,” he added.
The manager of Gulf Gate Holdings LLC is Arnaud Karsenti, who also is the managing principal of 13th Floor Investments, a Miami real estate investment and development firm based in Miami, according to its website.
Osterhoudt added that third-party appraisals that the county obtained put the value of the property between $6,527,000 and $9.5 million. A certified appraiser on county staff came up with the figure of $5.3 million, he said.
State law requires such appraisals, he reminded the board members, whenever a local government is considering the purchase of property. However, the commission could pay a higher price by pursuing certain steps also outlined in state law, he indicated.
Further, Osterhoudt cautioned the board members, the county has no funding identified for the acquisition of the golf course, remediation of contaminants, or the design, construction or long-term maintenance of the land if it were to be designated for stormwater purposes.
However, he did note, staff could work on obtaining state and federal stormwater and resilience grants. Further, Osterhoudt said, stormwater assessment revenue could be allocated to the effort, if the commissioners voted to take such action.
“So we need a lot more information,” Chair Ron Cutsinger said at one point during the discussion.
During Osterhoudt’s presentation, he also explained that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) is managing the property and overseeing its remediation, with arsenic contamination the primary factor.
County staff could be faced with securing FDEP permits for improvements of the site, if the county bought it, he said.
Although Commissioner Neunder has been a champion of the county’s purchase of the land, he, too, acknowledged the environmental issues as he and his colleagues discussed how to proceed.
Part of the motion that Neunder ended up making on Feb. 10 called for staff “to engage the services of a qualified third-party engineering firm to analyze the site and develop cost estimates associated with environmental remediation, including arsenic impacts.”
A December 2008 report by multiple authors that has been made available on the website of the National Library of Medicine, titled Arsenic Transport and Transformation Associated with MSMA Application on a Golf Course Green, says, “A survey conducted on Florida golf courses showed that about 96% of golf courses spray herbicides containing the active ingredient monosodium methylarsonate (MSMA),” which contains arsenic.
The study points out, “Long-term exposure to low concentrations of arsenic in drinking water can lead to skin, bladder, lung, and prostate cancers.”
County staff will return to the board, Osterhoudt said, with a report on the negotiations with Gulf Gate Holdings, as well as the result of the environmental findings and “a proposed agreement for board consideration.”