When the old Sarasota Square Mall site reopens, what will you actually do there first? The developer's answer runs on a schedule. A grocery run comes first. Lunch on a lawn comes almost two years later. The apartments that turn the site into a neighborhood come after that.

For more than 45 years the enclosed mall at South Tamiami Trail and Beneva Road was a shopping destination for Sarasota County, as Bay News 9 reported in late August. By April 7, 2026, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported that most of the former mall had been demolished and a new building was rising in its place. The project is Torburn Partners' 93-acre mixed-use town center, and it keeps the Sarasota Square name. This fall is the last stretch where it is mostly a fenced construction site that Palmer Ranch drives around.

Phase One Is Built Around a Grocery Store

The developer's September 2026 leasing brochure describes Phase One as 90,000 square feet of Whole Foods-anchored retail, with the line "Opening End of 2026." Bay News 9's August report put the opening of shops and restaurants in early next year. Taken together, the window runs from late 2026 into early 2027. No tenant has published its own opening day.

The square footage in the original tenant announcement shows what kind of place Phase One is meant to be. Your Observer reported these figures in November 2025:

Measured against the brochure's 90,000-square-foot total, Whole Foods alone takes up about 40% of Phase One. Add HomeSense and the two anchors cover roughly two-thirds. The three restaurants together have about a fifth of the grocery store's footprint. Phase One is mainly a place for errands, with quick meals on the side.

In May 2026 the Herald-Tribune added Warby Parker to the named lineup and reported the phase was 88% pre-leased. Costco and JCPenney stay on the south portion of the property as existing retailers, and Bay News 9 reports both continue to operate as separate, freestanding stores during construction.

The Gathering Place Is Scheduled for 2028

The things that make Sarasota Square a town center rather than a shopping center come in the second phase. The brochure lists Phase Two as "Street Retail and a Community Center," 160,000 square feet, "Coming Fall 2028." Its plans include open dining, a central lawn, upscale retail and recreation. That is close to twice the floor area of Phase One, and it adds the outdoor space Phase One lacks.

Bay News 9 described the same order. Phase One delivers restaurants and shops. Then the downtown center arrives with green space and more stores, and the first apartment building goes up during that phase. The overall plan calls for 1,200 residential units. The first project, Woodfield Development's 355-unit apartment complex, secured construction financing in June 2026, according to the Herald-Tribune. The master plan also includes a Phase Three, but its program and schedule have not been made public.

This order sets expectations for the next two years. This winter the site gets a grocery store and a handful of quick-service counters. The lawn, the community center and the walkable street retail are listed for fall 2028. Bay News 9 also reported that some people already living in Palmer Ranch communities are concerned about traffic and noise as the project builds out over that period.

The Streets Around the Site This Month

Before any doors open, October brings a dense run of work to the roads that frame the property. Sarasota County's live road and lane closure page and the Sarasota/Manatee MPO's weekly traffic update list the following work, in order of when it ends:

1. Underground FPL utility bores, 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. through October 9. They run along Potter Park Drive from Sarasota Square Boulevard to Central Sarasota Parkway, along Sarasota Square Boulevard from South Beneva Road to McIntosh Road, and along McIntosh Road from Deer Creek Boulevard to Palmer Ranch Parkway.
2. Honore Avenue at Ranch Road, overnight work through October 18. It belongs to the county's Honore Avenue Reuse Water Main Extension Phase 2B, which carries a 20-inch reclaimed-water main from south of Talon Preserve to Ranch Road. Completion is expected in spring 2027. It is a utility project, not a road widening.
3. Force main tie-in at Sarasota Square Boulevard and Potter Park Drive, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., October 19 through October 28.
4. Clark Road nighttime paving between Honore Avenue and McIntosh Road through the end of October.
5. U.S. 41 median landscaping, with intermittent lane closures from Bay Street to McIntosh Road through November 20.

Most of this work happens overnight or underground, and almost all of it is scheduled to wrap up before November. Only the U.S. 41 landscaping runs past Halloween. That puts the end of the heaviest street work just ahead of the opening window the developer gives for Phase One.

October 24 on Potter Park Drive

The Palmer Ranch YMCA is at 8301 Potter Park Drive, on one of the streets in that closure list. It hosts its free Fall Fest on Saturday, October 24, from 5 to 7 p.m. Planned activities include trunk-or-treating, an Alien DJ dance party, a haunted bus and attraction, face painting and food trucks. The Sarasota Square Boulevard tie-in is on the county schedule for daytime hours during that same window, so evening arrivals should fall outside the posted work times.

The same Saturday, a little farther east, the Celery Fields' Southeast Quad opens to the public. The 11-acre first phase of the rewilding project was finished in July and includes trails, a pond and a wildlife-viewing gazebo, according to Big Waters Land Trust. The next phase, the Southwest Quad, includes a proposed restroom, a nature-themed playground, a flex lawn and shaded picnic areas. No completion date has been given.

Closer to Home, the Calendar Is Already Set

The fall programs at Urfer Family Park, 4000 Honore Avenue, are already on the Sarasota County parks events guide. "Florida Cracker Cattle: A Walk Through Time" is scheduled for October 17 at 9 a.m. A free EcoWalk focused on forest bathing follows on November 19 at 9 a.m. The park is on Honore, where the county's overnight work at Ranch Road is listed through October 18, though that work runs at night.

Another grocery option is lined up along the Trail. Trader Joe's has confirmed a second Sarasota store at 8199 South Tamiami Trail, in a former Staples storefront. As of this writing, the company's store page lists the location as "Coming Soon!" with no opening date.

Palmer Ranch East is a separate proposal. It is a 2,350-acre project east of Interstate 75 near State Road 681 that Sarasota County commissioners advanced in September, and it still needs state review and another county vote.

Back on the old mall property, the first public milestone is Phase One, with Whole Foods as the anchor, listed by the developer for the end of 2026. Fall 2028 is the date for the lawn and community center. For more on how the daily map around Palmer Ranch has changed this year, see our summer look at the neighborhood and our Palmer Ranch neighborhood guide.

Suncoast Luxury Team follows Sarasota Square phase by phase. If you're thinking about what a new town center within walking distance could mean for your Palmer Ranch home, schedule a private conversation or request a valuation and we'll take you through it.