L.L. Bean, 10 new mall stores coming to Sarasota's UTC in 2025

L.L. Bean will be opening a new store in 2025 at University Town Center, one of several developments coming up in the New Year, according to Mark Chait, executive director of leasing for Benderson Development, which owns UTC.

The store will mark the first for L.L. Bean in Florida and the Southeast as a whole, Chait says. It will be in the old Bed, Bath & Beyond space at 111 N. Cattlemen Road.

“We’re thrilled to have them,” Chait says, speaking at a Dec. 13 event hosted by the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance about what's in store at UTC. Like L.L. Bean, he says, successful retailers there have blended brick-and-mortar stores with online sales.

Also coming to UTC in 2025 is City Furniture, under construction near Tesla, which Chait says started in the mall and grew to a two-story, freestanding facility this spring. Spanning 120,000 square feet, City Furniture aims to open by summer 2025.

“There’s a lot more stores in the works,” Chait says, adding he can’t disclose names since the deals are not finalized.

One area of growth in particular is The Mall at UTC, which Chait says has 20 million visitors a year and did more than $1.25 billion in annual sales.

Ten stores will be built at the mall in 2025, according to Jose Ayala, general manager of the Mall at University Town Center. He says 10 more stores will be renovated. 

“There’s nothing but growth” ahead for the mall, Ayala says, noting it opened nine stores in 2024 and renovated three, including an expansion. “We’re still growing.”

Every other week, he says, he meets with Benderson representatives to discuss what they are doing to attract best-in-class retailers and visitors to the mall.

On Black Friday, the mall had the busiest day in its 10 years of operation, according to Ayala. All 4,000 parking spots at the shopping center were filled by 9 a.m., he remarks. Overall, he says, traffic at the mall is up 4% this year.

Other notable developments around UTC:

• While retail is the “core of what we are” at Benderson, the company is also developing 450,000 square feet of office space in the next two years designed by New York City architecture firm Pei Cobb Freed. “We expect national interest in the next two years,” Chait says.
• The next phase of development for the company will be east of the mall and Interstate 75, with a waterfront district near the new Mote Marine facility.

Photo by Elizabeth King

• Nathan Benderson Park is in the process of getting bids for drawings for a boathouse and indoor facility featuring 100,000 square feet of hardwood flooring, along with concessions and restroom space as well as 10 to 12 boat bays, according to Nathan Benderson Park Conservancy COO Bruce Patneaude.