Centro Properties Group plans larger Sarasota Village Publix

Australia-based Centro Properties Group has filed a site plan to redevelop a portion of the Sarasota Village retail center. The retail company has proposed demolishing the existing 35,500-square-foot Publix Supermarket, along with the nearby spaces that housed Radio Shack and Jenny Craig to create a new larger Publix.

The Avid Group in Orlando is the engineer for the site plan.

Shannon Patten, a spokesperson for Lakeland-based Publix Super Markets Inc., confirmed that Publix has signed a lease for a new store in the center. However, she says the grocery company has no date set for the closing of the existing store or the opening date of its replacement. The new Publix is expected to be 45,000 square feet and will include a pharmacy

“We know that the Publix will be closed temporarily while the replacement store is constructed,” Patten says. “It will be a larger store with a bigger variety of products.”

The shopping center at the corner of Bee Ridge and Beneva roads in Sarasota features Golds Gym, Jessup Appliance, Jessup Appliance Warehouse, Big Lots, HomeGoods, iParty and several smaller tenants.

Calls to Centro officials for comment were not returned prior to publication.

Centro owns 600 properties with 98 million square feet of gross leasable area in 39 states.