Paradise Plaza slated for upgrade, new name

The list of developments near Siesta Key that are adopting its name just got longer.

The owner of Paradise Plaza, the 139,000-square-foot shopping center across the street from Westfield Southgate Mall, is revamping and renaming the property Shops at Siesta Row, according to ECHO Realty Senior Vice President Drew Gorman.

“This is purely an upgrade to the existing center, and part of a branding and architectural endeavor,” Gorman said. “We won’t be adding any additional square footage.”

ECHO, which bought the plaza for $27 million in 2014, is upgrading facades and signage of the Publix-anchored center with roughly $600,000 worth of renovations, according to a building permit filed with the city of Sarasota. The property also houses Petco, CVS, Pier 1 Imports, Salon Lofts and J-Pan, among other tenants at the intersection of Bay Road and South Tamiami Trail.

The firm wanted to disconnect the plaza’s brand from its previous ownership group, Safety Harbor-based Paradise Ventures, and follow Westfield Southgate Mall’s lead with its own redevelopment project. Gorman said competition from the Mall at University Town Center played a role, as well.

“We recognized that perhaps there was some place-making to be done, as others had started to embrace the Siesta Key recognition,” he said. “It was a way of playing off of what’s happening in our retail market.”

In fact, Southgate is changing its name to Westfield Siesta Key as part of the redevelopment. Further down South Tamiami Trail, Benderson Development has also adopted the Key’s branding with its Siesta Promenade project, and across the street from that is the residential Esplanade by Siesta Key.

ECHO aims to complete the renovations to Paradise Plaza by March 2017.

“We’re very excited about how it’s going to look,” Gorman said.