Shore Unveils Innovative, Flood-Resilient Design for St. Armands...

SARASOTA, Fla. (WFLA) — A beloved establishment that once thrived on St. Armands Circle is making plans for a return after its departure due to consecutive hurricanes.

Shore, a fixture on the circle for over 15 years, closed its doors in 2024 after suffering severe damage from Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Both storms brought several feet of saltwater flooding into the business.

Infrastructure challenges on the barrier island, combined with these natural disasters, led the Leonard family to make the tough decision to leave.

Tom Leonard, the owner, described the choice as bittersweet, admitting that after the back-to-back hurricanes, he “couldn’t see a window of light” for the business.

“Once we had some time to circle back and kind of revisit everything, I said there’s got to be a better way,” Leonard said.

Now, more than a year later, plans are underway to bring Shore back to the barrier island. This time, in a new space on the north end of the circle, inside a former bank building where demolition work is already underway.

Leonard says the new location is being designed to withstand future storms, with plans to make the building fully flood-proof without elevating it, using features like flood-resistant glass.

“We are going to be the first one of a kind and hopefully not the last to be a totally flood-proof and dry-proof building, so that will be totally storm resilient and meet the FEMA standards of today,” said Leonard.

Photo courtesy: Shore

Renderings for the new Shore show a three-level concept, including a cafe and retail space on the first floor, a full-service restaurant on the second, and a proposed eight-room boutique hotel on the third.

Leonard said the goal is to create a more storm-resilient model for the barrier island.

“I hope that the city and the residents and the fellow merchants can get behind this project because I do think it is something that is going to be state of the art,” he said. “Tt is going to be great for the city, it is going to be great for the community and also something that shows the city that with public and private partnerships, working together, we can make St. Armands totally flood resilient in the future and never have to go through this again,” said Shore’s owner.

If all goes as planned with city approvals, Shore anticipate a fall 2027 opening for the café and retail shop followed by the restaurant a few months later.

As of now, hotels are not permitted on Saint Armands Circle. For those plans to move forward, they would need to be approved through a rezoning process and public hearings.

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