Westfield Sarasota Square Mall vacancy

This mall has an excellent opportunity to adapt to a mix use village/town lifestyle concept. LWR missed it’s chance. With such an excellent location, how come this doesn’t turn into a “live-work” concept with a village theme. Lofts or 2 story condo’s on top of retail is an excellent fit. There is noting like this in the area and it’s proven worthwhile in many cities/towns across the country. LWR main street had the right idea but it’s quite small but they’ll now be doing it next to Shoreview/Watercrest which is now being developed. Seattle, Pittsburgh, Miami, and even Boston have been successful at re-adaptive use. Palmer Ranch is a great address, minutes to everything. Millennials have been shown to prefer the walk-able communities. There is a market here for this and if you need proof, just look at downtown’s Rosemary District. On a separate note, imagine if UTC, and The Benderson Town Center would throw up a monorail around that shopping corridor and add condo’s or lofts in the perimeter of the commercial area of this location, (as in on top of the businesses) just think of how less the traffic would strain this area. Get smart Commercial entities, try to think outside of the suburban box of what Sarasota currently is, and bring value to the area and lessen the strained roadway’s with live-work-play lifestyle concept. It’s working elsewhere, so why not here? Blog