Columbia Restaurant's Longboat concept on pause — 9 years after a $2M purchase

The restaurant group behind the Columbia Restaurant has yet to move forward with its plans to build a new concept on Longboat Key — nearly a decade after buying the waterfront property. 

The former home of Pattigeorge’s Restaurant, the parcel was purchased for $1.96 million in 2016, according to property records. Pattigeorge’s, a prominent restaurant on the Key for some 40 years, was demolished in 2018.

1905 Family of Restaurants President Richard Gonzmart told the Observer Media Group in the summer of 2016 that the company, which has operated the Columbia brand for 120 years, intended to build a 200-seat restaurant on the site, at 4120 Gulf of Mexico Drive, that he would oversee. Gonzmart said, at the time, that when he learned the iconic Pattigeorge's was for sale, he was reminded of his father's advice: “Never turn down the opportunity to build on the water in Sarasota.”

Gonzmart added that whatever restaurant he develops on that site, you can count on this: “It will be one of a kind. It won't be anything we do now.”

But Longboat Town Planning and Zoning Director Allen Parsons shared at an informal community meeting Oct. 14 that the Buccaneer Restaurant planned at the location has not moved forward with town approval.

“We’re talking about Mr. Gonzmart who owns the Columbia Restaurant and recently retired,” Town Manager Howard Tipton said. “The Buccaneer Restaurant was going to be his last project before retirement, and it never got off the ground. So one of the questions that we have for the family is what are their plans for the property?”

Casey Gonzmart Sr. retired as chairman of the board of the 1905 Family of Restaurants, effective July 25. Richard Gonzmart, a Business Observer Top Entrepreneur in 2019, remains active in the business. Andrea Gonzmart Williams and Casey Gonzmart are the fifth-generation leaders of the business.    

A spokesperson for the 1905 Family of Restaurants says the Gonzmart family had no comment on the company's plans for the space. 

This article originally appeared on sister site YourObserver.com.