Longboat Starbucks 'on hold' with build-out yet to start

It has been eight months since the arrival of Starbucks to Longboat Key was announced, and interior work is yet to start.

By S.T. Cardinal
| 8:30 a.m. October 16, 2025
| 0 Free Articles Remaining!

A banner announcing a new Starbucks location still sits inside the storefront of 3174 Gulf of Mexico Drive, but interior work is yet to begin.

Manatee-Sarasota

The Starbucks-logo-emblazoned banner that says “Coming soon. We can’t wait to see you” still sits in the windows of the storefront at 3174 Gulf of Mexico Drive, but “soon” is being used loosely.

It’s evident from the outside that not much work, if any at all, has been done on the 1,800-square-foot space since news broke in February that Starbucks would occupy the space.

Tom Johnson, director of leasing with CASTO Southeast Realty Services, says the Starbucks “is on hold right now” when asked about the status of the project. William Hamilton Arthur IV, principal architect for WHAA, says “we are ready to proceed with permitting, however, I am not sure the building owner’s intentions to comply with traffic requirements.”