NORTH PORT — The developer who rallied local support for a hospital in North Port and donated land to the YMCA for a facility here is back and plans to build a large-scale shopping center and nearby apartment complex on the east end of town.

On Tuesday, Sarasota developer Frank Menke III sat around a table with city of North Port employees from most departments, discussing plans to spend millions on a 39-acre, 558,000-square-foot project along Toledo Blade Boulevard, across from the Publix near Price Boulevard. It was the first time he had been before city staff in years.