Dessberg pursuing approvals for Stickney Point Plaza

Sarasota developer Rodney Dessberg is moving forward with plans to build Stickney Point Plaza, a strip mall planned for an area just north of Stickney Point Road. Plans call for a 20,782-square-foot center that will be anchored by an 8,700-square-foot shoe store. Dessberg, of Thoroughbred Development, also says the complex will be comprised of several 1,000-square-foot retail stores.

“I see the magic number right now as 1,000 square feet,” Dessberg says. “There are very few [other] choices right now for the small user. Right now is actually one of the best times time to go into business. These are some of the cheapest rents in the past 20 years or more. It is going to take 15 years to get back to where we were [for rents] before the artificial escalation. A lot of the competition is also gone.”

Dessberg filed a site plan with Sarasota County, but he's currently focused on working with the Florida Dept. of Transportation to retain at least two of the three access points into the development. A start date for the demolition and construction hasn't been set.

The 1.4-acre site is also being remediated by the state to remove petroleum containments in the soil from when it housed a gas station. Dessberg has hired Web Engineering of Sarasota as its engineering firm.