Sarasota County OKs mega-mall
By DOUG SWORD
Herald Tribune
SARASOTA COUNTY — It took nearly 15 years and a half-dozen proposals, but the county has finally found something it wants at Interstate 75 and University Parkway: a mini-city featuring the region’s biggest mall, 1,750 homes and a trolley system to take homeowners and shoppers to upscale stores.
As it finally won approval for University Town Center, Benderson Development dropped a pair of big announcements — the project will be built on a very fast track with a scheduled opening in 2009, and Nordstrom will be the first of three high-end retailers to anchor the mall.
The quick project should give a boost to the local economy by employing thousands of construction workers in addition to 2,500 retail and office workers.
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