Benderson adding pair of restaurants to Landings Shopping Center in Sarasota

SARASOTA — Benderson Development Co. has begun reshaping the Landings Shopping Center in Sarasota with a pair of new restaurant tenants, just three months after acquiring the struggling property.

Japanese steakhouse Da Ru Ma and breakfast and lunch eatery Station 400 are slated to open in the 4800 S. Tamiami Trail center this summer, says Benderson executive director of Florida leasing Mark Chait.

The Manatee County-based developer and investor also plans a series of capital improvements to the center, with anchors that include Publix Super Markets, Jo-Ann Fabrics, Sweet Tomatoes and Petsmart. Chait says landscaping and repainting, along with possible exterior work, will take place in preparation for the new restaurants' openings.

“We're actively working to re-tenant the center, and fill up the vacancy there,” Chait says. “In the case of Station 400 and Da Ru Ma, both are expansions; neither is closing an existing location.”

Da Ru Ma has operated from Commodore Realty's Sarasota Crossings property, at Fruitville Road and Honore Avenue, for nearly a decade.

Station 400 operates a pair of restaurants presently, in downtown Sarasota and on Main Street in Lakewood Ranch, which is owned by Schroeder-Manatee Ranch Inc.

Benderson bought the 13.5-acre Landings' property at auction in late January amid mounting vacancy. The center first opened in 1988 and had previously been owned by Troy, Mich.-based Cambridge Investors, records show.