Starbucks pulls out of plans for Longboat Key location

By S.T. Cardinal
| 1:20 p.m. January 6, 2026

Sips Coffee is located at 6828 Gulf of Mexico Drive and plans to open a second location on Longboat Key at 3172 Gulf of Mexico Drive.

Longboat Key
Business

After almost three years in business, Sips coffee shop plans to open a second store on Longboat Key, and the Starbucks planned next door is no longer happening.

Sips co-owner Chris Carter confirmed the expansion of Sips on Monday, and workers were seen renovating the space next to Swim City at 3172 Gulf of Mexico Drive the same day. Longboat Key Planning and Zoning Director Allen Parsons said a building permit for the project was issued last week.

Sips will take over the space formerly occupied by Turtle Coffee Bar, which never reopened after Hurricane Helene sent waist-high water into the store in 2024.

The 859 square-foot space next to Swim City at 3172 Gulf of Mexico Drive is going through an interior renovation to make way for the second Sips coffee shop on Longboat Key. The Starbucks planned at 3174 Gulf of Mexico Drive is no longer happening.

The space neighbors 3174 Gulf of Mexico Drive, where a Starbucks was announced. That project is not moving forward, Greg Sausaman said on Tuesday. Sausaman would have been the franchise operator of the Starbucks, which was originally announced for the space in February 2025.

“We are no longer moving forward with a Starbucks at this location,” he said. “We wish the new coffee shop well.”

According to permit applications, the 859-square-foot space will include a kitchen, a “prep area” with coffee grinders and espresso machines and a customer-waiting area.

The space, which is across the street from a public beach access, also has a small outdoor seating area.

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.