Longboat Starbucks 'on hold' with build-out yet to start

It has been eight months since the arrival of Starbucks to Longboat Key was announced, and interior work is yet to start.

By S.T. Cardinal
| 5:00 a.m. October 15, 2025

A banner announcing a new Starbucks location still sits inside the storefront of 3174 Gulf of Mexico Drive, but interior work is yet to begin.

Longboat Key
Business

The Starbucks-logo-emblazoned banner that says “Coming soon. We can’t wait to see you” still sits in the windows of the storefront at 3174 Gulf of Mexico Drive, but “soon” is being used loosely.

It’s evident from the outside that not much work, if any at all, has been done on the 1,800-square-foot space since news broke in February that Starbucks would occupy the space.

Tom Johnson, director of leasing with CASTO Southeast Realty Services, said the Starbucks “is on hold right now” when asked about the status of the project. William Hamilton Arthur IV, principal architect for WHAA, said “we are ready to proceed with permitting, however, I am not sure the building owner’s intentions to comply with traffic requirements.”

Attached to Swim City is retail space where a Starbucks franchise was expected to open, but work is yet to start on the interior of the building eight months after the new coffee shop location was first reported.

The building is owned by Judy Johnson LLC. Johnson owns the Swim City, which is attached to the Starbucks parcel and a 1,400-square-foot retail space which is yet to be leased. Johnson did not respond to an email seeking comment regarding the status of the Starbucks project. Franchisee Greg Sausaman declined to comment.

The project requires a special exception permit because of the zoning of the parcel, and Longboat Key Planning, Zoning and Building Department Director Allen Parsons said the application submitted for the exception is incomplete. The special exception application was notarized on Aug. 5.

A Starbucks spokesperson did not have news to share about the status of the Longboat Key location.

“Starbucks is always looking for great locations to better meet the needs of our customers. At this time, we remain focused on serving customers at our existing stores in Sarasota and have no store-opening plans to announce,” the spokesperson said in an email.

Correction: The story has been updated to correct that Publix, J. McLaughlin and CVS stores are chains.

author

S.T. Cardinal

S.T. "Tommy" Cardinal is the Longboat Key news reporter. The Sarasota native earned a degree from the University of Central Florida in Orlando with a minor in environmental studies. In Central Florida, Cardinal worked for a monthly newspaper covering downtown Orlando and College Park. He then worked for a weekly newspaper in coastal South Carolina where he earned South Carolina Press Association awards for his local government news coverage and photography.