LAKEWOOD RANCH, Fla. -- The Earth Fare supermarket is coming to Lakewood Ranch. In addition to the health food grocery store, the 150,000 square feet of retail space will include salons, restaurants and a big fitness center. For vegetarian and Bradenton resident Bob Rustigian he's excited that there will soon be more choices.
"You have to have places to shop, so something with a variety like that closer to home, yeah it'll be a welcome change," said Rustigian.
304 luxury apartments will also be built on the 40 acres of land at the northeast corner of State Road 70 and Lakewood Ranch Boulevard.
Bob Bartz is president of the Manatee County Chamber of Commerce. He tells us a development like this will not only bring in many more jobs, but also give folks some unique places to shop.
"I think it's exciting, I think we're going to see many more in the future and this is basically what the population is looking for today," said Bartz.
This will be the first project in the area for Orlando-based Tavistock Development Company. A spokesperson for the company tells us Lakewood Ranch is a perfect fit for the developments they create.
"We're really excited, we think it's a ground zero location,' said Skipper Peek, Vice President of Commercial Development for Tavistock Development Company. "It's a great community and the project we're doing is really synergistic with the mixed-use environments we like to create."
Site work on the project will get underway this spring.
It's a development that Lakewood Ranch resident Pat Favret and her husband are looking forward to enjoying in the near future.
"I think it's wonderful for the area," said Favret. "Publix I'm sure is a wonderful store but I like to see other stores as well that offer different things to get."
The Green at Lakewood Ranch shopping plaza is expected to be finished by the early part of next year with the luxury apartments ready for residents by the middle part of 2018.
