- December 6, 2025
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A “Coming Soon” sign pasted on the window of the proposed Longboat Key Starbucks location indicates the plans are still on. The property’s LoopNet listing also confirms Starbucks as one tenant.
Building a Starbucks is allowable on Longboat Key because, unlike what some may believe.
At this property in particular, a special exception permit would be required.
The CEO of Topper’s Craft Creamery and Master Licensee for Starbucks Greg Sausaman is the one behind the Longboat Key Starbucks project.
Sausaman currently oversees eight Starbucks locations and has four more in his development agreement. The Longboat Key location would become his ninth Starbucks location.
The Sarasota-based firm Holliday Group is overseeing construction of the project and could start submitting permits as soon as next week. Sausaman said it’s taken a while to get to the permitting stage because of the Starbucks design and review phase.
“Starbucks has this unbelievable design team and they’re very, very thorough,” Sausaman said. “With thoroughness and attention to detail comes a little bit longer period of time.”
How long the permitting takes would determine the construction timeline which would then determine the opening date, Sausaman said.
Sausaman previously told the Observer the 1,800-square-foot space would have a beachy feel to embody the look and feel of the community.
He also noted the location was prime in terms of visibility and traffic, both motorists and foot traffic from the beach access point across the street.
After the news broke that a Starbucks location was planned for a mid-key location, speculation began about how that could be possible.
Zoned as C-1 commercial, the purpose listed in the town’s code is “to delineate those areas suitable for neighborhood-serving commercial and related uses.”
Properties zoned C-1 can essential services or, with a site development plan review, things like a neighborhood convenience store, small-scale drugstore, florist shop and a laundry service.
Something like a Starbucks or any restaurant, the property owner would need to apply for a special exception.
“Generally, what a special exception means is that a use is allowed in a zoning district but is reviewed on a case-by-case basis,” said Allen Parsons, director of the town’s Planning, Zoning and Building Department.
The case would go before the town’s Planning and Zoning Board, but not the town commission. During the application process and the Planning and Zoning process, the applicant would need to present a case as to how the use would impact the area. The board would then review the exception based on various criteria.
“There’s a series of findings that have to be made,” Parsons said. “Things that are looked at are how the use may impact the surrounding environment, how parking is handled, screening and buffering and compatibility.”
Parsons said the process could take two or three months after filing the exception. As of May 29, there is no submitted application, but Parsons confirmed his department reached out to the contractor to let them know of the requirement.
“We have not heard anything. And it’s surprising, too. Especially to see that signage saying 'Coming Soon,’ so it sounds like they’re still wanting to have that use there,” Parsons said.
Like the town commission, the Planning and Zoning Board takes a summer recess, so even if the submittal of the application is this month, it would not go before the Planning and Zoning Board until September at the earliest.
A Starbucks would join a shortlist of big-name stores and franchises on Longboat Key, with others being Publix, CVS and J. McLaughlin.
The town’s code does not have a restriction or prohibition against franchises or chains.
“There is no such requirement. I think a lot of people do think that’s the case,” Parsons said. “Maybe just the fact that there aren’t fast-food restaurants; maybe the assumption is that they’re not allowed. But that’s not the case.”
Parsons added there is a prohibition on drive-thrus, but not fast food or chains specifically.
The property previously housed the Turtle Coffee Bar at the 3172 GMD space. The coffee shop closed in October 2024 according to its Facebook page.
Given the lot previously had a similar business on it, and assurances he received from the landlord, Sausaman said he hopes there will not be any issues in the permitting process.
Sausaman said he understands Longboat’s “secure” stance on big names coming onto the island and is committing to being a good local neighbor.
“We’re not some private equity conglomerate out of New York and this is not just one of seven assets to squeeze money out of,” Sausaman said. “We’re really going to be that community coffee house…we’re going to know your name.”
Before Starbucks, there was Publix.
Developers broke ground for a Longboat Key Publix in June 1979, with the Arvida Corporation closely attached to the project.
Arvida intended to provide the town with a luxury shopping center that would include the shopping center, property for banks and donated land for Town Hall and a library, according to Ralph Hunter’s book “From Calusas to Condominiums.”
The Longboat Key Publix store opened in 1980, with Mayor Claire Bell cutting the ribbon on the morning of June 4, 1980. The following week, Eckerd Drug Company opened in the same shopping center.
In 2008, Publix purchased the plaza for $14 million from Dead River Properties.
The property and surrounding shopping center evolved in 2012 as the Avenue of Flowers closed for the Publix rebuild of 2012. The commission approved the site-plan amendments and development at the Bay Isles-adjacent property.
The lot has a special zoning district, unlike the C-1 district where the proposed Starbucks location would be.
Still, the Publix property and Eckerd, which would later become CVS, marked the first big-name chains on Longboat Key. Later, J. McLaughlin would open a store at the Shoppes of Bay Isles. J. McLaughlin has over 170 stores in the United States.
