Status Update: The Shoppes at Bayshore

A strip center that is being built on the site of a former Blockbuster Video is the newest piece of new construction along a stretch of road county officials have been pushing to redevelop.

Since the start of the year, builders have been working on the vertical construction at the new Shoppes at Bayshore on 14th Street W. Projected to be substantially complete by mid-June, the building was framed, had roofing in place and had most of its exterior sheathing on as of this week.

The initial estimate for project completion was winter 2016, but progress is already well-advanced. A spokesperson with the project’s general contractor, MW Mitchell of Winter Garden, said both the building shell and much of the interior construction for the strip center will be complete June 15.

Property owner and developer Casto Development of Columbus, Ohio has already signed up three tenants to lease bays in the 9,000-square-foot, four- or five-bay center. A Jimmy John’s sandwich shop will be the building’s southern anchor. An AT&T Mobile store will be on the north end. A third named tenant is Great Clips, according to Manatee County permit records.

The center is being built adjacent to a CVS Pharmacy.

The construction project is small compared with many of Casto’s other mixed retail and entertainment ventures. Other local Casto holdings include Crowder Plaza in Lakewood Ranch and 177,000-square-foot North River Village in Ellenton, according to its website. The company holds retail real estate in seven states.

Casto purchased the 1.5-acre Shoppes at Bayshore site for $875,000 in May 2015.

Jim Conroy, an executive vice president of development with Casto’s Sarasota office, said at the time of the purchase that company officials had not decided whether the company will own the building long term. It has done some selling in the Manatee County commercial real estate market. Two years ago, it sold a 29,000-square-foot strip center at River Club Plaza in East Manatee for $7.35 million.

The Shoppes at Bayshore is one of several redevelopment projects along 14th Street West. Wawa opened a new convenience store at the 53rd Avenue West intersection in 2015, while competitor RaceTrac opened its own store at Pearl Avenue earlier this year.

This story was originally published May 20, 2016 at 2:45 PM with the headline "Status Update: The Shoppes at Bayshore."