Renovated St. Armands retail property secures final tenant

A Sarasota retail property that suffered extensive damage during Hurricane Helene nearly two years ago has been renovated and is now fully leased.

The three-unit building is on St. Armands Circle at 28 S. Boulevard of the Presidents.

The final tenant is Chocolate Emporium, which took 1,446 square feet of space and is expected to open in June, according to a statement from Ian Black Real Estate.

The shop is the handcrafted chocolates and confections retailer’s second spot, and, like its Anna Maria Island location, will also feature favorites like saltwater taffy, the firm says.

Chocolate Emporium joins Acadia Jewels Fine Jewelry & Design, which opened Jan. 1 in a 1,390-square-foot space in the building, and Le Shop, a coffee shop, wine bar and market that opened in November in a 1,385-square-foot space.

Amy MacDougall of Ian Black Real Estate says the property was severely damaged due to flooding and the owners have replaced the drywall up to four feet and installed new electric and HVAC systems that were placed on an elevated platform.

The building, according to Sarasota County property records, is owned by a Hartsdale, New York, LLC that paid $3.42 million for it in 2017.

MacDougall and Ian Black colleague Holly Haber represented the property’s owner in the leasing of all three properties. Terms of the lease were not disclosed but MacDougall says “they are for a good amount of time with options.”

In a November 2024 Business Observer story about the aftermath of Helene and Hurricane Milton on St. Armands, a Sarasota city spokesperson wrote in an email that “the weather events of recent months, including ‘unprecedented rainfall in August’ and then 4-5 foot storm surge from back to back major Hurricanes Helene and Milton were ‘extraordinary.’”