A year ago, the intersection of State Road 64 and Uihlein Road mostly meant driving somewhere else. Now the southwest corner holds a working shopping center. The open field across State Road 64 has county approval for nearly 200,000 square feet of commercial space. Closer still, a 5.23-acre tract at the Savanna entrance on Prairie View Drive waits under use limits set by a 2024 compromise between residents and the developers.
The three parcels are coming in under three very different sets of rules. Northchase Center is a standard anchored center that is already mostly built out. The project across the road was approved with a broad program and few named tenants. The parcel nearest Savanna's homes allows the shortest list of uses at the whole intersection. That list came out of a compromise between Savanna residents and the developers.
Northchase, as of the last week of October
Northchase sits on about 15 acres in the southwest corner of the intersection. It was split into five commercial lots, with three outparcels facing State Road 64, as Your Observer reported when the anchor opened. Four months later, most of the plan is open.
| Business | Address | Status | What it adds to a weekday |
|---|---|---|---|
| Publix at Northchase | 16642 State Road 64 E. | Opened June 11, 2026 | Pharmacy, liquor store, made-to-order burritos, bowls, pizzas and pastas, and Pours, a bar serving beer, wine, coffee, smoothies and acai bowls |
| Chipotle Mexican Grill | 16680 State Road 64 E. | Opened Sept. 29, 2026 | A Chipotlane for app orders placed ahead of time; open daily 10:45 a.m. to 11 p.m. |
| McDonald's | 16670 FL-64 | Listed as open on the company's locator | Drive-thru on the SR 64 frontage |
| Northchase Dental Care | 2810 Uihlein Rd. | Taking appointments | Dental office behind Publix, facing Uihlein Road |
The Publix covers 15,701 square feet and is the 19th Publix to open in Manatee County. The prepared-food counter is what sets it apart from a standard store. Next to the usual deli and bakery, it makes burritos, nachos, bowls, pizzas and pastas to order. The Pours bar turns a grocery run into somewhere to sit for a coffee or a glass of wine.
Chipotle's opening was a company milestone. According to the Bradenton Herald's coverage, the Northchase restaurant is Chipotle's eighth in Manatee County. Its Chipotlane works like a drive-thru, but you have to order ahead on the Chipotle app.
The dental office went up behind Publix on the Uihlein Road side. Its website, Northchase Dental Care, lists online scheduling and describes the office as part of the Heartland Dental-supported network, with services provided by independent practices.
Two Northchase spaces still waiting
The June plan named three outparcel tenants for the State Road 64 frontage: McDonald's, Chipotle and Chase Bank. Two are serving customers. Chase has not announced an opening date for its Northchase branch. Until it does, the closest Chase branch on the corridor is still the existing one at 11030 SR 64 E. in Bradenton.
The second open slot is a 3,200-square-foot retail space just east of Publix. No tenant has been named.
That leaves Northchase close to finished. Its layout was set early: one anchor grocer, three pad sites on the highway, a medical office on the side road and a small inline space. The two open spaces will fill in within that layout.
Across State Road 64, a larger and looser plan
The field on the north side of State Road 64 is where the most change is still to come. Manatee County commissioners approved a 195,000-square-foot commercial project there on April 23, 2026, by a 4-1 vote. That reversed an earlier denial in December. The applicants were Casto Net Lease Properties LLC and Albatros 64 Partners, and the rezoning covers about 15 acres of vacant agricultural land.
According to the Bradenton Herald, here is what the approved project includes:
- About 130,000 square feet of self-storage
- A 45,000-square-foot grocery store that the developers said will not be a Publix but a "smaller format" store like Aldi
- Space for a daycare center and a restaurant, which the developers said they hope to bring in
So far, no grocery chain has been named. The daycare is also not settled. Roger Clough, owner of Discovery Point Twelve Oaks in Bradenton, told commissioners he hopes to open his company's second daycare there. He described it as a project his company is "fully investing in," but the Herald's report does not mention a signed lease.
The applicant's attorney summed up the reasoning that carried the vote in a statement the Bradenton Herald reported:
"Providing commercial in close proximity to residential where there's not a lot of it today is a solution to traffic concerns. It allows for shorter trip lengths. It prevents people from heading all the way east on State Road 64."
Commissioner George Kruse gave the project its second hearing. Your Observer reported he said the amount of housing around the intersection means commercial development is needed. As approved, the north-side project names its categories of use but few of its operators. A Savanna household can expect a second grocery option and storage within a short drive. The rest of the tenant list is still open.
The 5.23 acres at Prairie View Drive
The parcel closest to Savanna's homes sits at its private entrance on Prairie View Drive. It took the longest to settle. It also ended up with the tightest rules.
Your Observer covered how the agreement came together in August 2024. Commissioners had denied earlier proposals in January and June of 2021. Residents organized as the nonprofit Save Our Savanna at Lakewood Ranch and reached a compromise with the developers before the county commission met on Aug. 22, 2024. At that point Meritage Homes of Florida owned the land, and CASTO was the contract purchaser. CASTO is also the developer behind the Lorraine Corners and Center Point plazas.
Under the agreement, the site is capped at 10,125 square feet of commercial retail plus a 12,000-square-foot child-care facility. The earlier plans included a gas station, and the new terms do not allow one. Here is everything the parcel can hold under the agreement as reported:
- A drive-thru restaurant
- A convenience store
- A general retail store
- A dry cleaner
- A bank
- A veterinary clinic
- The child-care center, which Kiddie Academy had agreed to lease and which was expected to serve about 200 families
How the site connects to the roads was part of the deal too. Prairie View Drive stays a private road. Traffic for the plaza is to come and go from State Road 64 instead. Meritage also agreed to contribute $18,000 to the homeowners association toward a gate. A binding preliminary site plan now governs the parcel, so any proposed changes would have to go back to the county commission.
The Business Observer reported in January 2025 that CASTO was building roughly 10,000 square feet of retail and the 12,000-square-foot childcare center near the Savanna entrance, with Kiddie Academy as the childcare tenant. No opening date has been announced for either the childcare center or the retail space. No retail tenants have been named publicly.
Compare that with the rest of the corner. Northchase took a grocery anchor, three highway pad sites and a dental office. The project across the road was approved for a grocery store, a self-storage facility and hoped-for restaurant and daycare uses. The parcel at Savanna's gate can hold one modest retail building from a fixed list and a single childcare center. It gets no gas station, and its traffic stays off Prairie View Drive. When something finally opens on those 5.23 acres, it will have to fit that list, and changing the plan means another public hearing in front of the county commission.
If you're following the new businesses at State Road 64 and Uihlein Road and wondering how they'll affect the area around your Savanna home, I'm glad to walk through it with you. Victoria Turner can help you think through timing, presentation and what buyers ask about when the corner comes up. Book a consultation whenever it suits you.
