Owner seeks new leases in life of plaza

How difficult is it to attract tenants to Whitney Beach Plaza? 

So tough that shopping center owner Ryan Snyder can’t give space away on a temporary basis.

He has offered tenants three years’ rent for free if they lease the former 11,000-square-foot space that was once the home of The Market.

“If I could just get someone to get in there and pay utilities and get started by offering free rent, it would help the plaza and other tenants,” Snyder said. “We’ve had interest but no takers.”

Snyder said drug stores such as Walgreens and CVS Pharmacy aren’t interested, and a couple of hardware stores also passed on the offer after they were initially enticed by free rent. 

“They all say it’s a great deal, but it will cost them too much to get a store operational, and the traffic won’t generate their investment even with free rent,” he said. 

Snyder said he’s thought of turning the market space, which has minimal walls, into a Key storage facility or a wedding/conference center space. 

“It’s a huge space,” Snyder said. “We just don’t know what to do with it.” 

Although Snyder’s free rent offer only applies to the anchor space, he continues to struggle to fill vacant spaces elsewhere in the plaza.

After four years and more than $2 million in renovations,  Snyder, a Bradenton-based real estate and bank attorney, sent an email to District 5 Longboat Key Commissioner Pat Zunz May 28, seeking help and input for the plaza’s future. 

“Although I’ve had some success in attracting new tenants, there remains a lot of vacancy at the plaza,” Snyder wrote. “Those spaces I have been able to fill were the result of reduced rent and other concessions I made to the tenants.”

The purpose of the email, Snyder says, was to start a dialogue with the town and its citizens about the long-term future of the property. 

Snyder told the Longboat Observer that “the sky is not falling,” and he has no plans to stop making payments on the debt and operating costs for the plaza. 

“This isn’t a  distressed circumstance on my part,” Snyder said. “But I’ve invested a ton of money into this property, and four years later, we’ve had some interest from tenants but not enough to sustain the plaza.”

Snyder said his biggest worry is that the 50-year-old plaza will fall into a state of disrepair in 10 years without a plan for its future. 

“I won’t ever realize my investment on this property,” Snyder said. “I’ve only put a Band-Aid on the problem.”

Snyder believes the north end can only support 10,000 of the approximately 50,000 square feet of commercial space in the plaza. 

“All you can really sustain is a convenience store, a couple of shops and a restaurant or two,” Snyder said. 

Snyder has no future suggestion for the plaza. He will meet with Zunz and Planning, Zoning and Building Director Alaina Ray next week to discuss future options for the plaza. 

“The town recognizes something needs to be done to this area,” Snyder said. “Since the town is working to overhaul its land development codes, I thought this might be the best time to have a discussion.”

Zunz hopes the vacant bank building and gas station get developed along with Whitney Beach Plaza in a way that it becomes a northern gateway for the town that includes a new roundabout. 

“It should include a future boutique hotel that makes the plaza more useful and sustainable,” Zunz said. 

In June 2012, the Longboat Key Town Commission approved an overlay district for the plaza, former bank building, vacant gas station and a series of residential-zoned vacant lots that straddle Bishop’s Bayou on Gulf of Mexico Drive just north of Broadway. 

Although the district allows for flexibility with a mixed-use combination of residential and tourism components, it doesn’t specify building height changes that are crucial to a future development of the north end property. 

Snyder also hopes to hold a future meeting with Longbeach Village residents at the Longbeach Café in the next month or two. 

“I’m open to any and all suggestions,” Snyder said.