$10M Siesta Row Publix redevelopment proposed

The owner of the Shops at Siesta Row in Sarasota is planning a redevelopment project involving its anchor tenant.

Echo Realty, a privately based Pittsburgh company that owns grocery-anchored shopping centers around the United States, has proposed demolishing the Siesta Row Publix and rebuilding it in a project that is estimated to cost $10 million.

Currently, the Publix at 3825 S. Osprey Ave. is about 48,000 square feet, according to Echo Realty’s leasing brochure.

The redeveloped Publix would be larger, coming in at 50,800 square feet, based on a proposal submitted to Sarasota’s Development Review Committee. According to the proposal, the estimated buildout date would be June 2026.

While the store would expand, more than a dozen parking spots would be lost in the renovation, according to the plans, which say the number would be reduced from 227 to 214 parking spots. Four spots would be removed to allow for a standby generator near the emergency generator, plans show.

Other retail at the Shops at Siesta Row would remain intact, according to the proposal. Major tenants at the shopping center include CVS, Petco and Five Below, among others.

A pre-application conference about the proposed redevelopment of the Siesta Row Publix is set for Aug. 6 before the Sarasota Development Review Committee.

Echo Realty also owns several Publix-anchored shopping centers in the region, including Tampa’s Westgate Plaza and Gandy Commons as well as the Shoppes at Price Crossing in North Port.

The Shops at Siesta Row opened in 1959 as Crossroads Plaza; Publix was added in 1995 to the shopping center, which was redeveloped in 2005 and called Paradise Plaza, according to a statement from Echo Realty, which purchased the shopping center for more than $26.7 million in 2014.