P.F. Chang's may come to downtown Sarasota

Prominent Sarasota developer Dr. Mark Kauffman is negotiating with P.F. Chang’s China Bistro Inc. for a possible location on the edge of downtown Sarasota.

Kauffman’s land-use consultant, Joel Freedman, submitted a proposal to the City of Sarasota Friday to develop the restaurant in place of an office building at the northwest corner of Osprey Avenue and U.S. 41.

The 4,164-square-foot building, at 766 S. Osprey Ave., currently is used for executive suites.

“There’s not much to say right now other than they are very interested in the site,” Kauffman said. “We are still trying to work out the details.”

The proposal calls for a restaurant ranging from 7,000 to 8,000 square feet and would require the city to approve both the site plan and a rezone of the property. Approvals are expected to take six months.

P.F. Chang’s China Bistro Inc. operates two restaurant chains: the full-service P.F. Chang’s China Bistro and the quick-casual Pei Wei Asian Diner. The company already operates a Pei Wei on University Parkway just west of Interstate 75.

If P.F. Chang’s elects to move forward, its in-house architectural team would design the future restaurant.

Contact Loren Mayo at [email protected] or Sean Roth at [email protected].