Backyard Social's Lakewood Ranch Venue Now Targets Early 2027, Developer Says

Backyard Social, the outdoor dining and live-music venue long promised for Lakewood Ranch, is now targeting an early 2027 opening at 6400 Professional Parkway, just south of Urban Air Trampoline and Adventure Park. A company spokesperson confirmed there is still no firm opening date, according to reporting this week, but the team is building toward the first months of next year.

For a project that has been in the works since at least 2023, another shifted timeline is nothing new. Backyard Social has moved its target opening from an initial fall 2026 date, and even a projected mid-November opening floated earlier this year, before landing on the current early 2027 window. The company's own website still lists the Lakewood Ranch location as "opening winter 2026," a sign of just how fluid the schedule has been.

What hasn't changed is the concept. The venue is planned around a large lawn built for local and national touring acts, a rotating lineup of food trucks instead of a traditional kitchen, a full bar, lawn games, a private event space, and a built-in coffee shop for daytime visitors. Earlier plans described a roughly 12,500-square-foot building with a stage covering about 6,000 square feet.

A years-long path through Sarasota County zoning

Backyard Social's road to Professional Parkway has run through Sarasota County's zoning process more than once. The site sits in a Planned Commerce Development district, and county code normally limits outdoor dining, drinking, and entertainment to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Developers Mat Baum and John Mann first sought a special exception in March 2024 that would have allowed the venue to stay open until 2 a.m. on special occasions, drawing pushback from nearby residents. By September 2024, the request had narrowed considerably, asking only to extend outdoor entertainment by one hour, to 11 p.m. on weekdays and midnight on weekends.

Even that scaled-back version stalled. Ahead of a Jan. 15, 2025 hearing, the request for outdoor entertainment past 10 p.m. was dropped entirely, and county commissioners still did not sign off on the remaining exceptions covering indoor entertainment and outdoor dining. More recent reporting from this year describes a revised approach that keeps the venue open to all ages until 9 p.m., switching to 21-and-up only after that hour, a structure that appears designed to avoid the late-night entertainment fight altogether.

Part of a bigger cluster near Waterside

Backyard Social isn't landing in isolation. It sits inside a broader stretch of new entertainment and recreation projects taking shape around the same corridor. Urban Air has already opened nearby with trampolines, climbing walls, laser tag, and go-kart-style attractions. SkyTrack Family Entertainment Center, planned for the same area, is aiming for a mid-2027 opening with a multi-story electric go-kart track, bowling, mini golf, and arcade games. A Life Time athletic club, with resort-style pools, pickleball courts, and a full-service spa, is also expected to open in the area later this year.

Together, the projects point to Lakewood Ranch adding a genuine evening and weekend destination near Waterside and Main Street, something families in the area have been asking for as the community has grown.

No construction timeline or permit milestones have been announced publicly since the early-2027 target was confirmed. Whether that date holds will likely depend on how quickly the remaining zoning and building steps clear Sarasota County, a process that has already run for close to three years.

Stay with Lakewood Ranch Community Website for updates as Backyard Social's construction and opening date come into focus, and join the conversation in our Community Forum to share what you'd like to see from the new venue. For more on what's opening around town, check out our coming soon coverage and local business news.