APRIL FOOLS: New mall coming to City Island

In the wake of Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium’s announcement that it plans to open a new aquarium at Nathan Benderson Park, Sarasota leaders were upset about a major destination leaving the city limits.

Now, they hope they’ve found an adequate substitute for the one that got away. On April 1, Miami-based developer Urban Intensity LLC plans to file an application with the city proposing a 400,000-square-foot shopping mall on City Island. If approved, the developer hopes to begin construction in the spring and open the new retail destination by next season.

The developer is in negotiations with the city to use more than 10 acres of public land on City Island to build the new mall, which would be located between Longboat Key and Lido Key. Although city officials were hesitant to sacrifice some green space for the proposed project, an internal memo describes the shopping center as a potential economic hub for the barrier islands.

“The departure of Mote’s aquarium operation means losing more than 300,000 visitors to City Island each year,” the memo states. “Without a replacement attraction, the amount of activity around St. Armands, Lido and Longboat would significantly decline — something we’re sure residents in the area would be horrified to see.”

Tanner Cannon, the CEO of Urban Intensity, anticipated some concerns about how the new mall would fit in with the local retail landscape. When the Mall at University Town Center opened in 2014, St. Armands Circle and downtown businesses worried it would lure customers away from their shops and restaurants.

Now, faced with another mall even closer, those merchants are likely to harbor the same fears. But Cannon, a self-described “die-hard fan” of the popular self-help book “The Secret,” wasn’t troubled about the prospect of a crowded marketplace in a field that’s already struggling to keep up with the growing popularity of online shopping.

“From our perspective, the only thing that’s gone wrong with the retail industry is that builders stopped believing in it,” Cannon said. “The philosophy behind our project is that a successful shopping destination is primarily predicated on a positive outlook. As long as everybody hopes for the best, everything will work out just fine.”

Cannon applied the same laid-back perspective to how the project would affect traffic on the barrier islands, a constant source of concern for residents. Cannon said Urban Intensity would “eventually get around to doing” a traffic study, but already, he’s confident those living in the area will be patient — even if some issues arise when the project initially opens.

“Obviously, there are going to be some concerns about traffic, but that’ll all sort itself out eventually,” Cannon said. “The important thing, first and foremost, is to make sure there’s always a steady stream of cars traveling back and forth across the Ringling Bridge.”

In its preliminary site plans, Urban Intensity outlines an accelerated schedule for constructing the mall, with work beginning in May and wrapping up before the beginning of the new year. Cannon was optimistic about sticking to that timeline, but he admitted setbacks could arise during construction.

“You obviously want to get things finished, but you know how these things go,” Cannon said. “One thing leads to another, and you’re still building in 2020. My whole deal is, it’ll get done when it gets done.”