Waterside Place, a new Lakewood Ranch town center, takes shape, should open in 2021
Four years ago, a floating dredge was cleaning out cattails from a 6,200-foot-long lake, the largest of seven lakes on undeveloped Lakewood Ranch land, located south of University Parkway.
There wasn’t a rooftop within a mile of the big lake, which was surrounded by pasture and woodlands.
The dredging was the start of work on what would become Waterside Place, a new town center on Schroeder-Manatee Ranch property in Sarasota County.
On Thursday, construction was going “gangbusters,” as one SMR official put it, on the new town center.
The 6,200-foot lake, the product of decades of shell mining, now has a name, Kingfisher Lake, and has become the focal point of development of the 36-acre town center.
Multi-store apartment buildings are shaping up and the main dining and entertainment street facing onto Kingfisher Lake has walls and rooftops.
In about a year, maybe less, Waterside Place will open with its rooftop beer garden. Like everything else, Waterside Place has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, but on Thursday it was a bustling and massive construction zone.
This week, SMR announced the signings of three new tenants at Waterside Place. They include Atria Café, CROPjuice and Duck Donut.
They will join previously announced tenants Korê, Derek The Salon, PAINT Nail Bar, SmithLaw, Foundation Coffee Co., The Yoga Shack, SoFresh and Kilwins.
When completed, Waterside Place will serve as the heart of Waterside, Lakewood Ranch’s first Sarasota County village with 115,000 square feet of commercial, retail and office space; diverse dining options; an eight-acre park; and miles of nature trails.
Atria Café, an artisan-focused eatery, will offer a menu of aromatic coffees, teas and specialty drinks, and a full menu of freshly baked breads, breakfast dishes, sandwiches, and salads, plus a toast bar. The Waterside Place location will be Atria Café’s second in Lakewood Ranch. The first Atria is now offering online ordering.
“Our new Atria Café at Waterside Place will offer locals and visitors a cozy place to enjoy our artisan baked goods and locally-sourced ingredients, as well as our seasonally-focused menu,” said Jim Angus, co-owner of Atria Café.
CROPjuice will be the fourth location for co-owners Karen Odierna and Keith Campbell. This is the first location within Lakewood Ranch. The company offers hand-crafted organic juices made from fruits and vegetables.
Duck Donuts is a family company offering fresh, made-to-order donuts in a variety of flavors. The brand, which originated in Duck, N.C., will be the first location within Lakewood Ranch, as well as the first in the region.
Waterside Place will be more easily accessible to customers due to the completion of Lakewood Ranch Boulevard, which now extends south to Fruitville Road.
“We’re thrilled to welcome these new tenants to Waterside Place’s already exceptional lineup of retailers,” said Kirk Boylston, president of LWR Commercial. “We look forward to fostering more relationships with businesses in our community and offering residents and their visitors exciting new dining options.”
Waterside Place will host festivals, farmers’ markets and more, said Tom Johnson, sales and leasing coordinator.
“We are trying to make it extremely pedestrian friendly. It’s incredible out here, I get multiple calls each week about the rental town homes and apartments,” Johnson said “There will be 866 rental units in all.”
In total, Waterside will include more than 5,000 homes in up to 12 neighborhoods, which will be connected to Waterside Place via trails and water taxis. More than 300 homes in the area have already been sold ahead of the town center’s anticipated opening later this year.
Other future amenities at Waterside include the relocation of the Players Centre for Performing Arts into a 70,000-square-foot performing arts center. Construction on the center is set to begin in spring of 2021.
Johnson sees Waterside Place as having some of the attractiveness of St. Armand’s Circle, Marina Jacks and Disney Springs, places that invite lingering and a slowed-down pace of life and that serve as regional draws.
For more information about Waterside and Waterside Place, visit www.lwrwaterside.com. For more information on Lakewood Ranch, contact Lisa Barnott at 941-757-1542.
