Manuel Fontanot’s Fontanot LLC purchased the building at 349 Monroe Drive on St. Armands Circle from a Maus family-owned trust for $2.995 million.

The Maus family owns the fine clothing and accessory chain Maus & Hoffman, which closed its location in the building earlier this year. The building includes additional retail and office space.

According to Fontanot’s son, Azore, the family would like to open a Mexican restaurant in the building while keeping remaining tenants and leasing space upstairs.

The Sarasota Development Review Committee discussed a proposal submitted by Fontanot in a pre-application session at its Oct. 21 meeting that would convert the existing two-story building from retail and office uses to a restaurant with seating for 150.

According to the city’s pre-application comments, restaurants are a permitted use within the Commercial Tourist Zone District.

Contact Robin Hartill at rhartill@yourobserver.com.


 

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