The Old Sarasota Square Mall Is Becoming a Town Center. Here's What Opens First.

New commercial buildings are going up at the corner of South Tamiami Trail and South Beneva Road. Costco and JCPenney are still open on the edges of the site, and demolition cleared most of the old mall in 2025. On the nearly 100-acre property, the first wave of buildings is under construction, and those buildings already have tenants lined up.

The redevelopment is called Sarasota Square, the same name the mall had. Most of the coverage describes it as a walkable town center with a central lawn and shaded walkways. That part is real, but it comes later. The first thing to open is a smaller, practical shopping center anchored by a grocery store. The town center is a separate phase with its own leasing team, and it has a 2028 target.

What Opens First Is a Grocery-Anchored Shopping Center

Illinois-based Torburn Partners is the developer. Its Phase One plan calls for 90,000 square feet of commercial space, and in May 2026 Business Observer reported that Phase One was 88% preleased, which works out to 79,200 square feet already spoken for. These are the announced tenants:

• Whole Foods Market, the anchor
• Warby Parker, which signed a lease for a 2,040-square-foot store next to Whole Foods
• HomeSense
• Charles Schwab
• CAVA
• Chipotle Mexican Grill
• Joe & the Juice

This list is a grocery store, a home goods store, a financial services office, an eyewear shop and three fast-casual food spots. It covers weekday errands. In its sales materials, the developer's leasing brochure calls Phase One "Whole Foods Anchored Retail."

For Palmer Ranch, the Whole Foods matters most. It puts a full-service specialty grocery store at the corner of US-41 and Beneva, next to a Costco that never closed. When Phase One opens, a grocery run and a warehouse-club run can happen on the same property.

This Whole Foods is a new store at Sarasota Square. It is a different store from the Whole Foods opening this month at the Marketplace at Heritage Harbour in Bradenton.

The Opening Date Depends on Which Source You Read

Sources give two different opening windows for Phase One:

• End of 2026. The developer's leasing brochure says "Opening End of 2026."
• First quarter of 2027. That is the delivery projection in the May 2026 Business Observer report, and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune said in June that Phase One was expected to start opening in the first quarter of 2027.

In late August, Bay News 9 said restaurants and shops were expected to open at the beginning of next year, which lines up with the 2027 window. None of the tenants has announced its own opening date. The most reasonable expectation for Palmer Ranch is a window from late 2026 into early 2027. Stores may open at different times, and the window could move.

The Herald-Tribune's wording was that Phase One would "start opening" in early 2027. That suggests tenants will open one at a time over several weeks, not all on one day.

The Town Center Is Phase Two

The project's bigger plans are in Phase Two, and they come from a different leasing team. Torburn hired Atlanta-based Jamestown to lease and program the second phase. Jamestown's portfolio includes Chelsea Market in New York and Ponce City Market in Atlanta. Jamestown has also designed a new brand identity for Sarasota Square that it describes as a "timeless coastal destination" with Mediterranean influence and modernist, climate-responsive design.

The two phases are built for different kinds of trips:

Jamestown's head of retail leasing, Adam Schwegman, told Business Observer that the company is "targeting operators that deliver a sense of discovery and a unique point of view." The plans include lush landscaping, shaded pedestrian corridors and gathering spaces.

The leasing brochure also shows a group of brand names: Violi, lululemon, Roma Rosa, Jeni's Ice Creams, Club Studio, Posman Books, Sur La Table, Mister 01 and Skinny Louie. The brochure doesn't say whether any of them have signed leases, so treat them as examples of the kind of tenant Jamestown wants, not as confirmed openings. Phase Two tenants will be named when the developer announces them, as it did with Warby Parker.

The master plan also has a third phase. Bay News 9 reported in August that its plans were not final yet.

Apartments Arrive Between the Two Phases

The town center plan includes housing. When Sarasota County approved the redevelopment in 2024, Business Observer reported that the plan allows up to 1,200 residential units across the site. The first building belongs to North Carolina-based Woodfield Development, which bought a 4.5-acre parcel on Sarasota Square Boulevard from Torburn for $18.2 million in March 2026.

In late June, the Herald-Tribune reported that Woodfield had secured construction financing from PNC Bank for a 355-unit complex. The complex will have one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments of about 768 to 1,626 square feet. Earlier reports and the developer's materials put the count at about 360 units. On June 26, Woodfield partner Ryan Studzinski told the paper, "We expect within the next 60 days to be breaking ground."

The apartments help explain why the project is split into two phases. A grocery-anchored center works for people who drive in from Palmer Ranch, Gulf Gate and the Siesta Key causeways. A lawn lined with restaurants and fitness studios depends on people who live within walking distance, and the first of those residents arrive with the Woodfield building.

Costco and JCPenney Stay Open

The two stores that stayed open through demolition are part of the long-term plan. In March 2025, Costco bought its store parcel from a Torburn-affiliated company for $10.5 million. Torburn bought the JCPenney property for $18 million in August 2024, and the approved site plan keeps the existing JCPenney building. As of Bay News 9's August report, both stores were still operating as separate, freestanding locations during construction.

That makes the old mall's two anchors the fixed points of the new layout. Phase One's Whole Foods will sit on the same property as Costco and JCPenney, and Phase Two's lawn and streets will be built around them.

What the Construction Means for Nearby Roads

Bay News 9 talked with people about the construction. Mike Wayne, who brought his son to scouting events at the mall years ago, said, "It won't be giant hallways and corridors." He called the corner "a pretty prime spot, and it always has been." The same report said some Palmer Ranch residents worry about traffic and noise from the new development over the next two years.

Some of that work is underway on the roads around the site. Sarasota County's road closure page lists overnight underground utility boring from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., scheduled from Oct. 12 through Oct. 30, in three places:

1. Potter Park Drive between Central Sarasota Parkway and Sarasota Square Boulevard
2. Sarasota Square Boulevard between Beneva Road and McIntosh Road
3. McIntosh Road between Deer Creek Boulevard and Palmer Ranch Parkway

The overnight work is scheduled to end Friday night. Check the county page for any new notices. More notices are likely as the apartments and Phase Two move forward.

The area already has some newer retail nearby. Sarasota Pavilion added a Nordstrom Rack at 6567 S. Tamiami Trail in March 2026, in the former Bed Bath & Beyond space. Sarasota Square adds a grocery anchor and fast-casual restaurants in its first phase, and its larger dining and shopping area in 2028.

If you're keeping an eye on Sarasota Square and wondering how a new Whole Foods, apartments and a 2028 town center could affect your corner of Palmer Ranch, I'm happy to talk it through over coffee. Let's Connect with Kelli Eggen.