A team of eight in expensive suits, employed by Benderson Development, the region's newest mega-developer, wooed Sarasota County commissioners last summer, pleading with them to ignore their own planning commission and approve phase one of Benderson's biggest local project to date, the mammoth University Town Center. There were lawyers and engineers and designers and marketers, all painting pretty word pictures and massaging commission egos. At the end there was Randy Benderson, an unassuming man of 50 in wire-rimmed glasses and a no-nonsense blue suit. He looked reluctant making his way to the podium. He sounded reluctant making his pitch-not reluctant about his project, but about being in front of a crowd, on television and under the spotlight.

Benderson plodded through his script, explaining that he planned to live at the new complex, even joking uncomfortably that it included "a hotel next door for my mother-in-law to stay at." He got a chuckle from the crowd, but stirring oration this was not.

Still, he won approval. County commissioners, despite the planning commission's worry that the project didn't comply with the county's long-range plan, took Benderson at his word that he'll keep his promises.

With its national reputation and business savvy, Benderson Development, which moved its headquarters to University Park from Buffalo last year, is emerging as the most influential player in Southwest Florida's commercial construction future. Sarasota County Commissioner David Mills, announcing his support for the University Town Center project at the July meeting, summed up what a lot of people are saying about the low-key giant. "There's a leap of faith involved here. I want the commission to know if I'm going to take a jump, I would rather do it with Benderson than any developer in the world," he told the assembled politicos and citizens.

Private and quiet-so much so that the company doesn't even have a public relations department-Benderson is at the center of the development community's buzz. Browsing the headlines and listening to talk on the street, it's clear that the company is getting loads of attention, whether it wants it or not. With University Town Center finally getting under way, and a massive mixed-use project at Stickney Point Road and U.S. 41 soon to follow, the headlines are sure to continue. Add the upcoming $50 million rehab of Bank of America (the old Ellis building) on Main Street in downtown Sarasota and acres of future development in North Port, and it's clear that the company is here for the long term. In a community where good old boys ruled for years, development experts and county leaders alike see Benderson changing the way we do business-and changing the face of the region along the way.

How big is Benderson? According to its Web site, it is the "largest privately owned development company in North America." Benderson has 110 employees in Sarasota and more than 200 in four other locations nationwide. It has developed 20 million square feet of commercial retail space, seven hotels, 25 office buildings with more than 8 million square feet, and projects currently in more than 30 states. Plans in Sarasota and Manatee counties call for more than 10 million more square feet of development over the next three years, according to Rex Burgher, vice president of retail development. "We currently own and manage approximately 6.5 million square feet of commercial space in the state of Florida. We're going to be pretty busy over the next few years," he says.

"They're making a huge impact on our town," says developer Pat Neal, who is partnering with Benderson on the 2,500-home Woodlands at North Port, set to break ground in 2007. "They do very high-quality, very visually appealing properties. They'll also bring a higher level of professionalism to the local development community. The great thing about the Bendersons is that you get the answers, like them or not. I happen to like them."

The company's relocation was precipitated by Randy Benderson's father, company founder Nathan Benderson, 88, who bought a home on Longboat Key 10 years ago and fell in love with the area. Burgher says they picked up a portfolio of properties here from Marine Midland Bank in the 1990s, mostly anchored by Winn-Dixie supermarkets, and in short order saw the area's potential.

"You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out how many people are moving down here," he says. "And you have to be in the middle of it to get the most out of it, so that's why we moved to Sarasota. We opened an office, and then, boom!"