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NEW QUAY IN LINE FOR RITZY BRANDS
LAS VEGAS -- Marquee retailers like Tiffany, Gucci and McCormick & Schmick's have their eye on the Sarasota market and a redeveloped Quay.
"There's a definite interest to be in Sarasota on behalf of most of the luxury retailers that we've spoken to," said Brett Hutchens, president of Casto Lifestyle Properties, one of the developers working on the billion-dollar Quay project.
Tiffany, known worldwide for its jewelry, china and those little blue boxes; Gucci, known for luxurious leather bags, accessories and apparel; and Ralph Lauren, recognized for its classic style in clothing and home décor are all in play, Hutchens said.
He hasn't yet signed any retailers for the project, which will be known as Sarasota Bayside and is now scheduled to open in fall 2009.
The mixed-use development will replace the old Sarasota Quay at U.S. 41 and Fruitville Road and include condominiums and as much as 210,000 square feet of retail space.
Irish businessman Patrick Kelly and his business partners began the $1 billion redevelopment more than two years ago after buying the Quay property for $65 million. The partners have since bought the adjacent El Vernona apartment complex for about $15 million.
The revitalized Quay is one of several projects that could bring new brands to the Sarasota shopping market, including Pineapple Square downtown and University Town Center at University Parkway and Interstate 75.
All of those projects are being pitched at the International Council of Shopping Centers annual convention in Las Vegas this week, where 40,000 developers, retailers and other industry representatives make deals at an indoor leasing mall that covers 1.3 million square feet.
Restaurant concepts including McCormick & Schmick, Seasons 52, Trulucks and Bice met with Hutchens and Casto Lifestyle Properties in Las Vegas this week.
Oregon-based McCormick & Schmick is known for its seafood. Orlando-based Seasons 52 specializes in grilling. Trulucks serves seafood, stone crab and steak. Bice is an Italian restaurant founded in 1936 and with plans to expand in Florida this year with new restaurants in Miami and Naples.
Casto has also been in contact with Cheesecake Factory, the wildly popular restaurant concept where patrons can expect long waits for a table and an extensive menu.
To accommodate the consumers who come to the project for these restaurants and retailers, Hutchens said 800 underground parking spaces are planned beneath a new street, labeled New High Street on plans, that will run through the property.
Four restaurant sites are planned at Sarasota Bayside with a fifth one possible. The restaurants would be spread out instead of clustered in one dining district within the project.
"They're the real traffic driver," Hutchens said.
Although Hutchens said he has talked with steakhouses, well-known chains such as McCormick & Schmick and smaller ones like the white-tablecloth restaurant The Oceanaire Room, he is toying with the idea of giving one restaurant space to an unknown.
Hutchens said he is interested in working with one or a collection of local chefs to create a unique, locally owned restaurant for Sarasota Bayside.
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