Rack attack could be on the way

Speculation is high that the Sarasota-Manatee market could be the next target for Nordstrom Rack, the off-price division of the popular department store chain.

Nordstrom officials decline to comment on the chatter. But three construction industry executives familiar with the project tell Coffee Talk the new location will be in The Shoppes at University Town Center, a Benderson Development plaza on University Parkway just west of Interstate 75. It's across the street from the future Mall at the University Town Center, a $315 million project currently under construction.

The conjecture is Nordstrom Rack will take over space that was previously a 19,000-square-foot Circuit City. Construction crews are currently renovating and adding 15,000 square feet to that building, says Mark Chait, Benderson's executive director for leasing. Like the Nordstrom officials, however, Chait declines to identify what tenant will take over the space. Chait, in an interview with the East County Observer, sister paper of the Business Observer, says the new space could be ready by June.