Spainish Springs
 

So what is the developer doing to bring in new restaurants since Gators, World of Beers and the third in The square now empty?
Seems to be me they are more focused on their new Eastport and Middleton vs where it all started.

An empty storefront costs them money so I'm sure they are trying to fill them.

An empty storefront in a new building in a new area with little competition might be easier to fill than an empty storefront in an old building in an established area with considerable competition just around the corner on 441.

A Spain Themed restaurant , I hope...Love those " spainards...Beautiful people"

Patience, grasshopper. They will get filled, but 2 of those locations need severe renovations. Gators and Margarita Republic are in really bad shape. Even when someone decides to pay the exorbitant rent, they're are going to have lots of work to do.

How much is the "exorbitant rent"?

The developers built Blondies. Open several days a week for a couple hours. What more do you need ? We also got rid of the pink plywood in front of the movie theater after many years. Things are progressing.

Actually the residents seem to have forgotten it. Business's survive because they have revenue/profits. So far, the residents around Sumter and Brownwood keep them viable but will see how that holds up as Middleton and Eastport come online and the those folks pull back from north of 44. Too easy to take cheap shots at the Developer.

Lots of turnover in Spanish Springs over the past 20 years or so.

It is not a new thing.

Call them and ask.

Here is wishing for a couple small scale eating establishments in town. My wish list would be an Island Fin Poke Bowl and a Tropical Smoothie. Unfortunately, small scale places, that don’t make the high profit margins from selling alcohol, would probably have a hard time making an adequate profit paying premium town square rent. That being said, Island Fin seems to be doing OK in Brownwood.

I have no idea what rents are in The Villages, but at one time they had a lock on rental spaces. The TV town squares are still an ideal place since many residents never leave TV property. But there is a lot of new development outside TV and a lot of that development is housing new restaurants. So hopefully TV management realize the competition is growing, the lock is gone, and they keep rents in a reasonable range.

I’m surprised Sawgrass establishments are still open. Local friends and neighbors complain about their prices. You can go to Brownwood everyday and get happy hour prices in the afternoon, no such thing at sawgrass. At Brownwood, or Lake Sumter, you have a lot of variety of restaurants that have great food for much less than Sawgrass. I’ve never eaten or had drinks at Sawgrass, nor have some of my friends because of what we’ve heard and we can walk there.

BINGO

If there appears to be a profitable market for food service, they will come.

If there appears to be no support, crickets.

Developer will need to invest in SS, and make it interesting again.
The residents around say 466A to turnpike, who travel to SS maybe once every 10 days, will soon make that trip south to Eastport and/or Middleton.
Developer still wants the cash flow from SS, so i would predict some investment - i.e. like they did with Blondies.

I have to agree with your assumptions about Sawgrass. This is our closest area but we seldom go here. The entertainment is usually subpar but does seem to be improving. The drink prices are $1 more than the other squares, the food is terrible and it's crowded. We do enjoy Tuesday Trivia and the occasionally Boozy Bingo but that's about it.