Taubman Centers, Inc. and Benderson Development Company, LLC announced the ground breaking on an 880,000-square-foot shopping center in Sarasota, Fla. The Mall at University Town Center will be a state-of-the-art, two-level, enclosed mall featuring an 80,000-square-foot Saks Fifth Avenue, a 180,000-square-foot Dillard's and a 160,000-square-foot Macy's. The $315 million shopping center will include more than 100 specialty stores and restaurants, approximately half of which are anticipated to be new to the market. Located at I-75 and University Parkway, the area's most heavily traveled interchange, The Mall at University Town Center will be the dominant fashion shopping destination in the growing Sarasota region. The Mall at University Town Center will open on October 16, 2014.

Benderson Properties, Inc. announced that it plans to open a 12,440-square-foot store in the northern building of the Home Depot Plaza on South Transit Road. The board gave approval for a new loading dock that Pet-Smart needs on the rear of the building. The company announced that the store will open in late September in the space next to the Cutting Crew. That location is currently occupied by Pisa's Pizza. The company announced that the restaurant is negotiating a lease with Benderson for other space, although he wasn't sure whether it would be in the Home Depot Plaza.