We will probably see a modest expansion of the current market with added drug and liquor operations and otherwise a reduction in retail space within the complex. However, this is a guess and it might be totally off-base.
Over the past few years several residents have advanced concepts of turning Avenue of the Flowers and the surrounding Bay Isles area into a community activity hub, where island residents and visitors can congregate and share social activities such as dining and casual refreshments, etc. I think this is a good idea for our community. However, a greatly expanded retail presence is not practical given our seasonal demographics. Several tourists have responded to my past articles saying they wish there was a place where they could meet people on Longboat. Perhaps the Bay Isles locality is the logical place to start. Perhaps Publix will seek people oriented businesses such as Starbucks, and other casual meeting establishments, where people may enjoy one another's company. Whatever happens at Avenue of the Flowers, I believe it will need to draw people out of their self-sufficient condominium complexes and offer a unique and compelling social experience. There are a sufficient number of year-round residents and visitors on Longboat to support a properly sized and populated commercial center on the Publix property.
A town community center located adjacent to the new Publix center can further aggregate social activities around a central geographical hub that is already well established. On the north side of the Publix site lie several banks, the town library, town hall and several churches. Locating a community social and recreational facility in the existing Mattison's building, that lies adjacent to the south side of the Publix property, would further concentrate social activities in the area and offer patrons easy access to nearby cafés and casual meeting places. A community center located adjacent to the Publix redevelopment could be mutually beneficial for both the community center and whatever Publix developes at Avenue of the Flowers.
If we manage to create a viable critical mass of activity in and around the new Publix renovations, we just might attract enough people to sustain a healthy retail presence at that location, while at the same time creating a social activity hub within our community that is essential, if we are to attract the next generation of people looking for an exclusive, beautiful, thoughtfully developed island community.
I wonder what the new owners of Whitney Plaza and environs are thinking. If Publix does create a new attractive retail center at Avenue of the Flowers, that can only decrease the need for additional retail operations on the north end. If the new owners at Whitney Plaza decide to reintroduce retail operations at the north end, I suspect the same thing will occur that happened when Publix opened years ago, and that was to siphon business away from the two northern shopping centers.
In spite of the proclamations made by some commissioners that we need more retail and more tourists on Longboat, I suspect the business community is smart enough to read the writing on the wall. Longboat Key became an affluent seasonal retirement community because that is what perspective home buyers were looking for. As a result of two decades of slow development, we are finally just that, and now all the spare retail real estate needs to also fall in line with the community profile that has evolved over the years. We are what we are and that is a good thing according to the great majority of residents and visitors alike.
Longboat Key is and remains an exclusive, beautifully developed, jewel on the west coast of Florida. The housing problems will pass and we will all be thankful that we did not succumb to the aspirations of the developer element within our community. I think we will find that being an upscale seasonal second home community will remain attractive through the years and that property values will benefit from our exclusivity and low density.
However, we do need to change to some degree with the times. A centralized community district will enhance our lifestyle and offer residents convenient access to social activities including a recreational center in the Mattison building beside the Publix property. I, among others, believe that we need to strive to create a critical mass of things to do, places to meet people and shop at the center of our island. Having a recreation center as part of that complex appears to be an essential element to the mix of activities. The opportunity to create a vibrant community center in the Mattison property, for a relatively small investment in renovating the building, is too good to pass up. We need to start moving to secure the now vacant property and to turn the building into a part of a greater town center.
Let's all get together and promote a new town center.
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