New reality

It's a blank slate now, but enter a virtual world, and an entire neighborhood comes to life.

Plans for a 41-acre parcel of land at Fruitville Road and Interstate 75 in Sarasota call for retail, office space, apartments and a hotel in a development dubbed Fruitville Commons. The project is part of a larger initiative to redevelop the area adjacent to I-75 at Fruitville Road.

The Fruitville Commons property, owned by the family of David Walters in a trust, was once the potential site of a Bass Pro Shops. When that deal fell through, Walters went back to the drawing board.