Mall at UTC Sarasota: Stores, Dining, Directions | Danielle Gladding & Co. Realty

The Mall at University Town Center — UTC to anyone who lives here — opened on October 16, 2014 at University Parkway and Interstate 75, two years to the day after its groundbreaking. It runs to roughly 880,000 square feet across two levels on a 73-acre site, anchored by Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy's and Dillard's, and carries more than 150 stores and restaurants. At the time it opened it was the first regional shopping center built in Sarasota in about thirty-five years, and one of two enclosed malls to open anywhere in the country that year.

The more useful thing to understand is that the mall is the middle of something, not the whole of it. The 73 acres sit inside a 276-acre master-planned development, and the districts that have filled in around it since 2014 now hold more retail square footage than the mall itself. When people here say "UTC," they usually mean the whole corridor — the mall, the shopping districts on either side of it, the restaurants along North Cattlemen Road and Cooper Creek Boulevard, Nathan Benderson Park across the interstate, and, since October 2025, the Mote Science Education Aquarium.

We are Danielle Gladding and Alison Kanter, a mother-daughter real estate team in Sarasota, Florida. Danielle arrived in Sarasota in 1976, has sold real estate here since 1981 and has been a broker since 1987. Alison was born and raised in Sarasota and has been licensed since May 2023. Together we help people buy and sell in Sarasota, Longboat Key, Lido Key and St. Armands, Bird Key, Siesta Key, downtown Sarasota, Lakewood Ranch, Palmetto and Manatee County.

What the Mall at UTC Is, in Numbers

The numbers below are the durable ones — the ones that will still be true in five years, unlike a tenant list.

Opened October 16, 2014. Groundbreaking was October 16, 2012, and the partners announced at the groundbreaking that they would open two years to the day. They did.
Roughly 880,000 square feet, two levels, on a 73-acre site inside a 276-acre master-planned development.
Three department store anchors, each on two levels: Saks Fifth Avenue at about 80,000 square feet, Macy's at about 160,000 and Dillard's at about 180,000. Apple is also here, across from Saks.
More than 150 stores and restaurants. At opening, roughly two-thirds of the tenants were new to the Sarasota-Manatee market.
Built by Benderson Development in partnership with Taubman Centers, and designed by JPRA Architects. Simon Property Group completed its acquisition of a majority interest in Taubman in December 2020, so the mall is now owned and managed by Simon and Benderson.
The central skylit corridor runs about 1,100 feet. It is the reason the interior reads as bright rather than cavernous, and it is why the mall photographs the way it does.
Around 4,100 parking spaces, plus valet.
Address: 140 University Town Center Drive, Sarasota, Florida 34243. That is Sarasota County, just south of the Manatee County line — a distinction that matters for property taxes, school assignment and which county government you deal with if you buy nearby.

The Anchors and What Is Inside

Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy's and Dillard's anchor the two levels. On March 6, 2026, Saks Global listed the Sarasota store among a dozen locations it intended to close following its January bankruptcy filing; weeks later the company reversed that decision after renegotiating the lease with Simon, and the store stayed open along with the 66 jobs attached to it. We mention it because buyers ask, and because it is a fair illustration of how retail works now — a store roster is a snapshot, not a permanent feature of a neighborhood.

Beyond the anchors, the mix leans toward national fashion, beauty and home brands: Apple, Sephora, lululemon, Michael Kors, Anthropologie, Tommy Bahama, Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel among them. Sophie's sits inside Saks. The practical advice is the same for anyone: before you drive over for one specific store, pull up the mall directory. Tenants move, and the ones that were here at opening are not all the ones here now.

Where to Eat at UTC

The mall itself carries a small number of full-service restaurants, several with outdoor terraces that open away from the parking fields. The Capital Grille, Seasons 52 and The Cheesecake Factory are the long-running sit-down names, and Sophie's operates inside Saks Fifth Avenue. Brio Italian Grille and Kona Grill have also traded here. Reservations at the steakhouse and at Seasons 52 are worth making from January through April.

The larger dining picture is the district, not the mall. Across the surrounding centers there are more than eighty places to eat within a few minutes' drive — Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar across University Parkway at Cooper Creek Boulevard, Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurant, Rocco's Tacos, Shake Shack, Selva Grill's UTC location, Dim Sum King, California Pizza Kitchen and a long list of fast-casual along North Cattlemen Road. PopStroke on University Town Center Drive pairs a putting course with food and drink.

Events and Activities at UTC

The mall runs a rotating calendar rather than a fixed one, and it is more active than most people expect from an enclosed mall: outdoor markets, live music, fitness classes, car shows, trunk shows, seasonal pop-ups and installations. Taste of UTC is the recurring dining promotion, when participating restaurants across the corridor put out prix-fixe menus.

On an ordinary day the amenities are the draw: complimentary Wi-Fi, a children's play area, touchscreen directories, charging stations, electric vehicle charging, guest services and valet parking. Because it is enclosed and air conditioned, UTC is also where a good part of the county walks in August, which is not nothing in a place where the alternative is a parking lot at ninety-four degrees.

The Districts Around the Mall

Benderson has added close to a million square feet of retail and restaurant space around the mall since 2014. Counted together, the wider University Town Center area now runs past four million square feet, with more than two hundred retailers, more than eighty places to eat, several hotels and a few hundred thousand square feet of office space. North Cattlemen Road is the spine that ties it together.

The District West — the big-box side: Target, Best Buy, Dick's Sporting Goods, Barnes & Noble and Old Navy. L.L.Bean opened its first Florida store here.
The District East — still filling in, with home furnishings, restaurants, hotels, housing and entertainment. City Furniture opened a large showroom on this side.
Across University Parkway — Trader Joe's, Fleming's and a stretch of restaurants along Cooper Creek Boulevard, technically in Manatee County.
Home furnishings — the corridor has quietly become the region's furniture and interior design cluster, which is useful to know when you have just closed on a house and own no chairs.

Mote SEA and Nathan Benderson Park

Two things within a mile of the mall changed what the corridor is for.

The Mote Science Education Aquarium — Mote SEA — opened on October 8, 2025 at 225 University Town Center Drive. It is a 146,000-square-foot facility with three levels of exhibits, and its Gulf habitat tank holds 400,000 gallons. It replaced the aquarium on City Island, which closed to the public in July 2025 after seventy years there. Alongside the public galleries are teaching laboratories that host K-12 students from Sarasota and Manatee counties free of charge.

Directly across Interstate 75 is Nathan Benderson Park: roughly 600 acres, a 400-acre lake and a permanent 2,000-meter championship rowing course that hosted the 2017 World Rowing Championships and is scheduled to host them again in August 2028. It is also a county park with trails, a playground and fishing, used by far more walkers than rowers.

How Far UTC Is From Downtown, the Interstate, Lakewood Ranch and the Keys

Distances below are approximate and driving times are worse from January through April. Anyone who tells you a Sarasota drive time without asking what month it is has not driven it in season.

Interstate 75 — Exit 213, University Parkway. The mall entrance is less than a mile west of the ramps. The interchange is a diverging diamond, the first built in Florida, completed in 2017 to handle exactly this traffic.
Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) — about three miles west. Under ten minutes outside of season.
Downtown Sarasota — about nine miles south, roughly fifteen to twenty-five minutes depending on whether you take US 41 or cut across on Honore and Cattlemen.
Lakewood Ranch Main Street — about seven miles east, roughly fifteen minutes.
Palmetto and Riviera Dunes — about twelve miles north, roughly twenty minutes.
St. Armands Circle and Lido Key — about thirteen miles, figure thirty minutes and more on a Saturday.
Bird Key — roughly twenty-five to thirty minutes.
Longboat Key — depends entirely on where on the island. Bay Isles is roughly forty minutes; the north end is closer by way of Manatee Avenue and Anna Maria.
Siesta Key — roughly thirty-five to forty minutes.

What UTC Means If You Are Buying a Home Near It

The opening of UTC in 2014 marked a real shift in where this region's center of gravity sits. For most of a century, commerce here ran along the bayfront and US 41. The mall, the districts, the interstate interchange and the growth of Lakewood Ranch pulled a large share of it inland to I-75. If you are relocating and trying to understand the shape of the place, that is the single most useful thing to know.

What that means in practice depends on where you are looking. For homes in the north county corridor — University Park, Palm Aire, the neighborhoods off Cattlemen and Honore, and the Lakewood Ranch villages to the east — UTC is the everyday errand run, and proximity is a genuine convenience. For the barrier islands it is the once-a-fortnight trip, and the drive is part of the trade you make for living on the water.

A few things worth checking on any home you consider near the corridor: how the property sits relative to I-75 and whether interstate noise reaches it, how North Cattlemen Road and University Parkway behave on a Saturday in February, whether you are on the Sarasota or Manatee side of the county line, and what the flood zone determination says. None of these are dealbreakers. All of them are easier to look at before you write an offer than after.

If You Are Looking at Homes Near UTC

If the corridor appeals to you, the two areas to look at first are Lakewood Ranch to the east and downtown Sarasota to the south — very different propositions, and the choice between inland and island is the one most relocating buyers spend the longest on. If you are weighing the two, we set them side by side in our guide to Lakewood Ranch or the islands. It is also worth reading what a year here actually costs, in our cost of living in Sarasota guide, and how the medical picture looks in our Sarasota healthcare guide. For current hours and the store directory, the mall's own Simon page is the source to trust.

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Frequently Asked Questions

When did the UTC mall in Sarasota open?

The Mall at University Town Center opened to the public on October 16, 2014, exactly two years after its groundbreaking. A charity preview the night before drew several thousand people and raised money for area causes. The Mall at UTC was the first regional shopping center built in Sarasota in roughly thirty-five years, and one of two enclosed malls to open anywhere in the United States that year.

How big is the Mall at University Town Center?

The Mall at University Town Center runs to roughly 880,000 square feet across two levels, on a 73-acre site that sits inside a 276-acre master-planned development. The mall holds more than 150 stores and restaurants and about 4,100 parking spaces. The wider University Town Center district around it — the shopping centers, restaurants, hotels and offices — now exceeds four million square feet in total.

What stores are at UTC in Sarasota?

The Mall at UTC is anchored by Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy's and Dillard's, with an Apple store and a mix of national fashion, beauty and home brands including Sephora, lululemon, Michael Kors, Anthropologie, Tommy Bahama, Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel. The surrounding districts add Target, Best Buy, Dick's Sporting Goods, Barnes & Noble, Trader Joe's and L.L.Bean's first Florida store. Tenant lists change, so check the mall directory before making a special trip.

What restaurants are at the Mall at UTC?

The Capital Grille, Seasons 52 and The Cheesecake Factory are the long-running full-service restaurants at the Mall at University Town Center, and Sophie's operates inside Saks Fifth Avenue. Several have outdoor terraces. Across the wider UTC district there are more than eighty places to eat within a few minutes, including Fleming's Prime Steakhouse, Cooper's Hawk Winery & Restaurant, Rocco's Tacos and Shake Shack. Reserve ahead between January and April.

Where is the UTC mall and which I-75 exit do I take?

The Mall at University Town Center is at 140 University Town Center Drive, Sarasota, Florida 34243, at the southwest corner of University Parkway and Interstate 75. Take Exit 213 and head west; the mall entrance is less than a mile from the ramps. The interchange is a diverging diamond — the first one built in Florida, completed in 2017 — so give yourself a moment the first time through it.

How far is UTC from downtown Sarasota?

The Mall at University Town Center is about nine miles north of downtown Sarasota, which is roughly fifteen to twenty-five minutes by car depending on the route and the season. Sarasota Bradenton International Airport sits about three miles west of the mall. Lakewood Ranch Main Street is about seven miles east. Traffic in Sarasota is meaningfully heavier from January through April, and every one of these drives is longer then.

What is Mote SEA and where is it?

Mote SEA is the Mote Science Education Aquarium at 225 University Town Center Drive, next to the Mall at UTC and Nathan Benderson Park. It opened on October 8, 2025 — a 146,000-square-foot facility with three levels of exhibits and a 400,000-gallon Gulf habitat tank. Mote SEA replaced the aquarium on City Island that closed to the public in July 2025, and it includes teaching laboratories serving Sarasota and Manatee county students at no charge.

What is there to do at UTC besides shopping?

Beyond shopping, the UTC corridor holds Mote SEA, PopStroke's putting course and food hall, more than eighty restaurants, and Nathan Benderson Park across Interstate 75 with its trails, playground, fishing and 2,000-meter rowing course. The Mall at UTC itself runs a rotating calendar of outdoor markets, live music, fitness classes, car shows and seasonal events, and keeps a children's play area, guest services and valet parking.

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Danielle Gladding arrived in Sarasota in 1976. She has been a licensed Florida Realtor since 1981 and a broker since 1987, and runs Danielle Gladding & Co. Realty with her daughter and Sales Partner Alison Kanter, who was born and raised in Sarasota and has been licensed since May 2023. Danielle: (941) 539-8535 · Alison: (941) 306-9786